Slow-Cooker Chick Peas with Tomato and Chorizo

These chick peas were supposed to be part of a vegetable curry, but like most grand plans on this training year, fell by the wayside. This dish is a "chuck it all in and turn it on" type of meal, save for soaking and boiling the chick peas first. If you can't be bothered with that, then just buy a couple of tins and reduce the amount of cooking time (I'm guessing a couple of hours in the slow cooker would be enough).

I bought a tiny slow cooker from Lakeland Limited with some birthday vouchers, which is the perfect size for one meal and which I cooked this dish in. It could easily be done on the hob or in the oven as an alternative.

Ingredients

• A very large handful of dried chick peas (I think this was about 600-700g when reconstituted)
• 10 - 12 slices of chorizo
• 6 ripe tomatoes (they must be ripe!)
• 1 tablespoon of tomato puree
• 2 shallots
• 3-4 big glugs of extra virgin olive oil
• 1/2 tsp Knorr chicken powder (optional)
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 tsp dried mixed herbs (rosemary, oregano, thyme, marjoram)
• Salt and pepper
• Fresh basil leaves to garnish

Serves 4-6 as an accompaniment

Instructions

• Soak the chick peas over night, then drain, place in a pan and cover with water. Bring to a rolling boil and boil for 15 minutes
• Peel the shallots and slice into thin rings
• Score a cross in the bottom of each tomato and cover with boiling water, then leave for 5-10 minutes. Remove the tomatoes from the water, peel off the skin and dice the tomatoes
• Add the chick peas, shallots, chorizo, mixed herbs, chicken powder, tomatoes, tomato puree, bay leaf, mixed herbs and 3 large glugs of olive oil to the slow cooker. Season generously with salt and ground black pepper and mix thoroughly
• Switch the slow cooker onto high and cook for 4-5 hours, stirring occasionally

• Remove from the heat, drizzle over some fresh olive oil, garnish with fresh basil leaves and serve immediately

Slow-Cooker Chick Peas with Tomato and Chorizo