Kinda nice and kinda nasty: chorizo and bean stew

Before Annalena begins, ragazzi, she has a question which  maybe some of you can answer:  WHAT IS IT ABOUT THE BRACIOLE RECIPE?    Just before logging on, Annalena checked to see who was reading what.  In first place, as it always is, is her braciole recipe, with 76 hits.   SEVENTY SIX.  The closest one after that, had 11. 

What is it about the braciole, bambini?  This is the way it is every week, every month, every year.  She simply does not get it. 

But to cooking something new.  Ragazzi, Annalena has been more than stressed lately.  Let us put it this way: when Annalena does not eat, and sleeps, she is in trouble.  And she has been in dire trouble.  She did not make it all the way through to the end of the Academy awards last night, which is a shame because her hero, Michelle O'bama was on, and she regretted missing that. 

It has been work stress. But, to be totally open with you, amici, Annalena offered to tender her resignation today.  It was answered with 'WHAT THE FUCK/ ARE YOU KIDDING ME?"  And no, it was NOT because her boss wanted to fire her.    Karma takes a while to come around, kids, and after 30 years of working for people who really are not fit to wash the socks of her new boss, Annalena has found hers.  So, just a bit of trite stuff you've heard before, but not from Annalena:  WAIT.  Things balance.  She will be lighting candles tomorrow.

So now we got to this "naughty but nice" dish, which is really, really tasty.  Naughty, because it has very fatty pork sausage in it (chorizo, which you can substitute with other really fatty sausage, although Annalena understands not why you would).  Nice, because it has beans in it, which are good for you and filling and make you feel like a good person.  And spinach, which we all know makes you feel good. 

Ultimately, this is a really, truly good dish if you keep things in balance. Don't eat too much of it - if you can.  Or treat it as a bad thang on your cheat day, if you have such things.  And again, its easy... if you got the beans. 

Annalena had the beans.  She had cooked a pound of them the week before, cooled them and froze them.  She urgently recommends that any of you who want to get more fibre into your diet, do the same thing.  If you have cooked beans in the freezer, you have food.  Yes, you can used cans, but....   Annalena cannot tell you to do that. 

You also need a pound of raw chorizo.  SMOKED chorizo is easy to find, fresh not, but try.  And if you don't find it, use a raw spicy or hot sausage of some kind.    You also need a large onion, slicd, and four cloves of chopped garlic. Maybe a sprig of thyme.  And a hefty quarter pound of baby spinach, or some other tender green.  And, finally, chicken stock.    Salt and pepper and olive oil too.  Let's get to work

You start by putting two tabelspoons of olive oil in a pan, and put in the sausages.  Don't wait for the oil to heat up and get hot. This works starting cold.  Just keep turning the sausage to keep them browning evenly.  How long it will take to cook them depends on the sausage, and how thick they are, but under is better than over here, because there's more cooking to come.    When you think they're done, pull em out.  

These are pork sausage.  You will have more fat at the end than you started with.  If it's chorizo fat, and you don't live with the Guyman, save it for cooking potatoes.  If you do live with a FAT nazi.... oh well.   Mi dispiace, ragazzo.  Save a few tablespoons, toss in the onion, the garlic and the thyme if you are using it.  Cook it at medium low heat until the onions color.    Now add three cups of cooked beans, and two cups of chicken stock.  Cook this until you get a simmer and, as it happens, press down on the beans.  They release their starch and thicken the liquid. And it thickens nicely.    It should take about five minutes.    Now taste, and adjust your salt and pepper, and start tossing in the greens, by handfuls,  waiting until one handful wilts before you add the next.  And, finally,  cut the sausage into small coins, stir it into the stew, and....

You got dinner. Or lunch.  The Guyman and Annalena had it with slices of broiled, left over polenta which wasn't the best choice in the world, but  "si chi e visto, chi e visto "    

This is a good one.  And  you can substitute the sausages, the beans, and the greens depending on what you have on hand, because we are NOT food nazis.

Next time around, carini, we're gonna WORK.  But its gonna be worth it. We're going to make chicken in vinegar sauce.  Unless you'd rather have the apricot squares first.  Talk to Annalena.  Let her know.