Chickpeas with Chorizo

One of my favorite spots to eat in Huntington, NY, is the Argentinian restaurant Café Buenos Aires. The menu veers towards grilled meats. But that’s not why we eat there. My wife Marci and I go for the tapas. We sit at the bar, order four or five small dishes, and share a delightful meal, varied in tastes.

The tapas menu, mostly Latin in origin, lists about a dozen cold and a couple dozen warm options. We often get ceviche studded with big toasted Peruvian corn kernels or fried calamari with a chipotle aioli for dipping. The empanadas are delicious and have different shapes and fancy twisted edges holding the flaky dough together, each signifying a different filling. A couple of meatballs in a spicy tomato sauce are always nice, as are dates stuffed with cheese and wrapped in bacon; sweet and salty, one of my favorite flavor combinations. I love the gnocchi with breaded scallops and shitake mushrooms, in a garlic truffle sauce. There are tapas size portions of grilled meats and sausages, which we usually skip over, and a tapas menu would be lacking if it didn’t include shrimp sautéed in a garlicky olive oil.

One of the dishes I like best on the menu is Garbanzos con Longaniza, a small bowl of spicy chickpeas with a few pieces of chorizo-like sausage. It is warm and hearty, salty and garlicky; delicious with a piece of bread to sop up any sauce remaining in the dish.

I frequently serve guests a meal composed of small plates, and I am always searching for new ideas. My mind recently went to the chickpeas from Café Buenos Aires. I couldn’t imagine they would be difficult to prepare; I figured they could probably be cooked ahead of time and reheated just before serving, saving me time for other, more labor-intensive dishes; and I knew they would be tasty. It turned out I was right on all three fronts.

Chickpeas with Chorizo

This recipe is perfect served in a small dish as an appetizer or part of a small plates meal, or as a full meal if you add some hearty greens like chopped kale or broccoli rabe. It is best served with a piece of good bread, lightly brushed with olive oil and crushed garlic, and then grilled. Allow most of the water to evaporate if you want it to be more of a side dish, or add more water if you prefer it to have more liquid as with a stew or soup.

Half hour, serves four as an appetizer or small plate

1 Tbsp. olive oil

½ medium onion, finely diced

1 clove garlic, chopped

2 oz. hot Spanish chorizo, sliced into ⅛ inch coins, 1 coin finely diced

¼ tsp. kosher salt

¼ tsp. fresh ground pepper

½ tsp. paprika (or smoked paprika)

¼ tsp. cayenne pepper (optional)

1 can chickpeas, drained, liquid reserved

1 Tbsp. parsley, chopped as garnish (optional)

1. Heat the olive oil on medium-low in a 2-quart saucepan. Add the onions and cook to soften, stirring frequently, about 3 or 4 minutes.
2. Stir in the garlic and reduce the heat to low, cooking for about a minute until warmed through.
3. Add both the chorizo coins and diced chorizo. Cook for about five minutes, stirring frequently, allowing the fat to render, staining the onions and garlic red from the paprika in the sausage. Remove the chorizo coins to a small dish and reserve.
4. Add the salt, pepper, paprika, and cayenne pepper (if using) and mix in, allowing their flavor to bloom in the oil for about a minute, stirring so they do not burn.
5. Stir in the chickpeas with ¼ cup reserved chickpea liquid and ¼ cup water and lower the heat. Allow to simmer at least 10 minutes for the flavors to blend or until the chickpeas reach your desired texture. Add more chickpea liquid or water as necessary and depending on whether you want it a little drier or more soupy.
6. Chickpeas can be cooked up to a day ahead and reheated, adding water as needed. Return reserved chorizo coins to the dish just before serving and garnish with chopped parsley, if you like.

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