Spanish Chickpea and Chorizo Soup

Serves 4

olive oil
150g chorizo sausage, finely chopped
1 onion, peeled and finely chopped
1 clove garlic, peeled and finely chopped
2 sticks celery, finely chopped
500g fresh spinach, washed and chopped
8 fresh tomatoes, roughly chopped
1 x 410g tin cooked chickpeas, drained
1.3 litres chicken stock
sea salt and freshly ground pepper
55g pata negra, Spanish ham or prosciutto, finely chopped
extra virgin olive oil


Put a couple of tablespoons of olive oil into a large pot and add the chorizo. Allow to heat up and cook for a couple of minutes until the fat comes out of the chorizo, then add your onion, garlic and celery.
Turn the heat down and cook slowly for 15 minutes with a lid on and without colouring the onions. Now take the lid off, stir it around and get some colour happening. Add spinach, tomatoes, chickpeas and chicken stock. Bring to the boil, then lower the heat and simmer for around 40 minutes.

At this point you can remove about a third of the mixture and puree it in a food processor or Thermomix. Put it back into the pot, give it a good stir and season to taste with salt and pepper.

Remove from the heat and stir in the pata negra or ham and 2 or 3 Tbsp good virgin olive oil.