Ok, title aside, I have nothing but love for D.C.’s favorite celebrity chef and adorable PBS personality. And,while this “paella” is probably neither authentic nor avant garde enough to meet his standards, I’d hope that Señor Andrés would at least find it palatable. We thought it quite tasty–as is anything that starts with chorizo, my favorite power ingredient du jour.

Randomly, the Yes! Market that serves as the grocery store of last resort on my walk home from the Metro stocks super delish Spanish chorizo–the dry, cured kind, not the fresh Mexican kind. And I take advantage of this regularly. It is, for lack of a better word, the bomb: meaty, fragrant, and full of gorgeous spice and fat. Of course, a little goes a long way, and I’ll usually slice or dice it up and throw it in my pan to crisp up and render out before having my merry way with it. The chorizo makes for a wonderful frittata, adds spicy nuance to pasta sauce, and–at it’s most basic level–is great fried up and offered as part of a tapas spread (in moderation…).
Of course, this kind of foodstuff is supposed to be consumed in moderation anyway. This is meat-as-flavoring as opposed to meat-as-main ingredient, which is generally a nice thing to do, I think. Here, I used about a third of the chorizo as the base for a one-pot dinner redolent with the warm spice I associate with paella (never having made or consumed real paella, I’d take this claim with a rawther sizeable grain of salt, btw). The chorizo was followed into the pan by onion, garlic, and coarse-grained bulghur. I boosted the flavors with a bit of smoked paprika and saffron and towards the end stirred in some peas, cannellini beans, and parsley. It made for a great supper with a bit of salad on the side, and made for some seriously tasty lunch leftovers the next day.
Bulghur “Paella”
Yield: ~4 servings

3 oz hot Spanish chorizo
1 medium onion
2 cloves garlic
1 c coarse bulghur
~2 c stock or water
1/2 c sundried tomatoes
1 tsp dried thyme
1 tsp smoked paprika
1 heaping tsp saffron
1 c frozen green peas
1 14 oz can cannellini beans
1/4 c chopped fresh parsley
salt & pepper

Dice the chorizo and put into a large saucepan over medium-low heat. Stir for a few minutes while the fat renders and the sausage crisps up. Dice the onion and add to the pot. Increase the heat to medium and cook a few minutes more. Mince the garlic and add to the pan along with the bulghur.  Stir to coat with the oil and toast a minute or so. Cut the tomatoes in strips and add to the pot with the stock, paprika, thyme, saffron and a wee bit of salt and pepper. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to low, and cover.

Simmer about 15-20 minutes, till the bulghur is tender and most of the liquid is evaporated. Drain and rinse the beans and stir into the pot along with the peas. Continue to cook over low heat till the peas and beans are warmed through and the mixture is fairly dry–not bone dry, but not soupy either. Remove from heat, stir in the parsely, and season to taste.  A little squeeze of lemon juice would not be a bad thing.

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