Meat is the star of most stews, with vegetables and aromatics sometimes feeling like an afterthought. But meat can make an excellent accent ingredient in a pot of silky greens and creamy beans.
In this recipe from our cookbook “ Milk Street 365: The All-Purpose Cookbook for Every Day of the Year,” we take loose inspiration from Portuguese feijoada, a stew of beans, cabbage, sausage and multiple cuts of pork. Stick-to-your-ribs filling, it’s meant to be a midday meal, usually served on Saturday afternoons or for Sunday lunch.
Instead of using a tough cut that requires hours to become tender, we opt for chorizo, a flavor-packed sausage that boasts a robust, smoky taste. The meat flavors the vegetables and legumes, for a lighter take on the rustic stew. Be sure to use Spanish chorizo, a dry-cured sausage with a firm, sliceable texture, not fresh Mexican chorizo.
Tomato paste, already brimming with sweet, concentrated flavor, is browned early in the cooking process to bring depth to this hearty dish. Browning activates complex flavor compounds called glutamates, which equate to umami and enhance savory richness.
Canned beans, either pinto or pink beans, streamline prep. Bittersweet collard greens simmer low and slow for about half an hour, becoming meltingly tender. Fruity sweet paprika amplifies the flavor of the chorizo.
Off heat, taste and season with salt and pepper. Serve drizzled with additional oil.
Paprika-Pinto Bean Soup with Collard Greens
Start to finish: 50 minutes
Servings: 6 to 8
Ingredients:
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, plus more to serve
2 medium yellow onions, finely chopped
Kosher salt and ground black pepper
4 ounces Spanish chorizo, quartered lengthwise and cut into ½-inch pieces
¼ cup tomato paste
2 tablespoons sweet paprika
Two 15½-ounce cans pinto beans OR pink beans, rinsed and drained
1 bunch collard greens OR lacinato kale, stemmed, leaves chopped
Directions:
In a large Dutch oven over medium, heat 2 tablespoons oil until shimmering. Add the onions and ½ teaspoon salt; cook, stirring occasionally, until lightly browned, about 10 minutes. Add the chorizo and tomato paste, then cook, stirring often, until the paste browns and slightly sticks to the pan, about 2 minutes.
Add the paprika, beans, collard greens and 8 cups water. Bring to a boil over medium-high, then cover, reduce to low and simmer, stirring occasionally, until the greens are very tender, about 30 minutes. Off heat, taste and season with salt and pepper. Serve drizzled with additional oil.