Rioja style potatoes

 La Rioja is a small region in Northern Spain with a great History, among many other reasons, because it is located in one of the routes of the Camino de Santiago (Santiago's Way), called Camino Francés (French Way).
The cuisine of this region is highly valued in the rest of Spain, and one of its most famous dishes, "Rioja Style Potatoes", I'm going to devote today's blog entry.
Among their main dishes include stews and slow cook, and are based on the products of the orchard of the Ribera del Ebro (the Ebro is the main river in this area), asparagus, artichokes, mushrooms...all it a very healthy food.
Another reason and perhaps the best known internationally for which this region is known for its excellent wines. La Rioja is a DOCa with certain distinguished wines made in three different zones that produce Riojas wine: Rioja Alta, Rioja Baja y Rioja Alavesa, where wines originating from different features.
These wines are fresh, aromatic, balanced and with excellent bouquet. In my humble opinion, probably one of the best red wines in the world.

Recipe of Patatas a la Riojana

Serves 4

INGREDIENTS:

1kg potatoes

2 chorizos (Spanish sausages)

1 onión

2 cloves of garlic

1 green pepper
2 choricero peppers

2 laurel leaf

1 chilli
1l of water

Paprika to taste

Olive oil
  Salt

Heat a little bit of olive oil in a pot, chop the onion and green pepper and fry them until the onion is transparent, then add the garlic (finelly chopped) and bay leaf.

While the rest is frying, cut the chorizos into pieces to your taste, can be thicker or thinner, even you can cut them in half. Add them to the pot.

Now break the potaroes with a knife, don't cut them because if not you lose the starch, and you need it to thicken the sauce. They should make a noise when you break them.

Mix the potatos with the rest and stir around with a wooden spoon, now cover with water and add paprika and chilli to your taste, if you don't like spicy food don't worry the recipe don't change it's flavour if you don't use chilli.
Stir everything carefully and finally add the choricero peppers, leave them in the surface because once the dish is cooked, we will remove the choriceros from the pot and we have to cut them in half and carefully remove the pulp from the skin. Now add the choriceros meat to the pot and stir everything.

You'll need between 25 and 30 minutes in an ordinary pot, and if you use a pressure cooker, you'll only need 5 minute once start to boil.

I HOPE YOU LIKE IT

¡SALUD!

Notice: The chorizo pepper is a variety of red pepper, normally air dried in strings to better maintain them. In the kitchen is used only hydrated pulp thereof, being so popular in Spanish cuisine that is easy to find them packed in glass jars ready for use. (Wikipedia)