Spanish Beans with Chicken & Chorizo

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cupspinto beans, dried; soaked overnight
• 1onion, chopped
• 1 tbsppaprika
• thyme, few sprigs; for herb bundle
• 2 leafbay leaves, for herb bundle
• 1 bunchparsley, for herb bundle
• 4chicken thighs, bone-in
• 9 ozjersey royal potatoes, small; halved if large
• 9 ozchorizo, sliced
• 3 1/2 ozspinach

Method

1. 1

   Put the dried pinto beans in a large bowl, cover them with plenty of cold water and leave them to soak for at least 4 hours, or overnight. They roughly double in size, so give them room.

2. 2

   Drain and rinse the beans, then tip them into a large heavy-based pan with the chopped onion, the paprika and the chicken thighs. Tie the thyme, bay leaves and parsley into a bundle with string and drop that in too.

3. 3

   Pour in enough water or stock to cover everything by a couple of centimetres and bring it to the boil, then lower the heat, cover the pan and simmer for 45 minutes.

4. 4

   Lift the chicken thighs onto a plate and add the potatoes and sliced chorizo to the pan. Carry on cooking for 30 minutes, until the beans have gone creamy and a knife slides into the potatoes.

5. 5

   Pull the skin and bones off the chicken and tear the meat into big pieces. Return it to the pan with the spinach and simmer for 5 minutes, just long enough for the leaves to collapse. Fish out the herb bundle before serving.