Spicy Lentils with Chorizo

I spotted some Brindisa cooking chorizo in my local deli last week and picked it up without having a definite plan for it. It’s been calling to me every time I open the fridge and today, with nothing else planned for dinner, it was a welcome addition to the fridge. I started wondering how it would work with lentils but a quick search online didn’t throw up anything interesting. A friend came to the rescue with a recipe not unlike the lentil ragu we’ve cooked before so I took some elements from both.

6 mini cooking chorizo, sliced (next time I’ll crumble these instead)
1 onion, chopped
1 red chilli, finely chopped (not necessary)
Tablespoon paprika (increase to two tablespoons if not using chilli)
200g lentils (increase to 250g)
200ml beef stock
Splash dry sherry
Small tin tomatoes
Squirt tomato puree

Gently fry off the chorizo until browned and remove from the pan.
In the same pan, sweat the onions with some salt until soft, add the garlic and chilli and cook for a further minute.
Next, stir in the paprika and the lentils and make sure everything is well coated.
Deglaze with the sherry.
Add the rest of the ingredients (including the reserved chorizo), bring to the boil, reduce heat and cook for 45 minutes.

We ate this with toast which worked well but wasn’t entirely necessary. We both enjoyed it but I think the amendments I’ve noted above would definitely improve the dish.