Peas and pea shoots with sausage

I have to admit, I got excited when I saw pea shoots at the farmer’s market. In my area, pea shoots are one of the first spring vegetables to show up, and I try to take advantage of their short season. The bunch I picked up this weekend was covered in purple flowers.

I’ve had my eye on this recipe from Jose Andres' Tapas cookbook for quite a while. Peas and pea shoots are cooked with leek, onion and a little bit of sausage and bacon to make a light and delicious dish. I served this as a main course, but you could also serve it as a side. The original recipe calls for butifarra, which is a type of Spanish pork sausage. I didn’t have time to seek out butifarra, so I went with a link of italian turkey sausage which worked well.

I made quite a few changes to the original recipe, but one change was unintentional. You see, the version in the book called for fresh mint. I went out to my garden, and painstakingly picked some tiny mint leaves to sprinkle over the top. I came back inside, set them on the kitchen counter and then promptly forgot about them. So, no mint in my version, but feel free to add it.

This was a really delicious meal – a wide variety of tastes and textures, and relatively healthy too. What more can you ask for?

Peas and pea shoots with sausage
Serves 2 as a main course
Adapted from Tapas

1/2 c white onion, finely chopped
1 leek, light green and white part only, finely chopped
2 slices of bacon, coarsely chopped
1 mild pork or turkey sausage, casing removed
1/4 c chicken stock
1 1/2 c fresh or frozen peas
1 1/2 c pea shoots
salt to taste

Heat a large saucepan over high heat. Add the bacon, reduce the heat to medium, and cook until browned and crisp. Remove the bacon from the pan, drain on paper towels. Reserve about 2 teaspoons of bacon fat in the pan, pour off the rest. Add the leek and onion to the pan, saute until translucent, about 5 minutes. Add the sausage, break up into small pieces, and cook until the sausage is done. Pour the chicken broth into the pan and add the peas and pea shoots. Cook until the peas are done and the pea shoots have just wilted, about 3-5 minutes. Season to taste with salt.

Catalan style spinach

I love to try new recipes. In fact, I average about 10 new recipes a week. The vast majority of the time, we like the new recipes I've made. I'm sure that's partially due to the fact that I only pick recipes I think we'll like and I alter them to fit our tastes. Every so often, a recipe will stick out from the pack. Sometimes it's a lengthy complicated recipe that's just so incredibly delicious, it's worth the time and effort. Other times, it's a simple, easily executable concept that also happens to be notable. This type of recipe makes it into our regular rotation, and usually after the first or second time through I don't even need to refer to the recipe anymore.

This Catalan style spinach from Tapas: A Taste of Spain in America is going into my regular rotation. With only five ingredients, I can make it without any fuss on a busy weeknight. A peeled, chopped apple is sauteed in a little olive oil until golden brown. A handful of pine nuts is added to the pan and cooked until golden. Next comes 10 ounches of spinach, a handful of raisins and salt to taste. The spinach releases liquid as it cooks, which in turn plumps up the raisins. That's all there is to it. Like I said, simple concept, great results.

Spanish tapas

My parents just celebrated their 33rd wedding anniversary. In honor of their anniversary and their upcoming trip to Spain, I made them a meal of tapas. All of the recipes came from The New Spanish Table cookbook, and everything was delicious!

Tangerine olives

Marinated carrots

Goat cheese stuffed piquillo peppers

Moorish chicken kabobs

Confetti shrimp

Rice pudding ice cream with coffee caramel sauce