Meat is the star of most stews, with vegetables and aromatics sometimes feeling like an afterthought. But meat can make an excellent accent ingredient in a pot of silky greens and creamy beans.
In this recipe from our cookbook “Milk Street 365: The All-Purpose Cookbook for Every Day of the Year,” we take loose inspiration from Portuguese feijoada, a stew of beans, cabbage, sausage and multiple cuts of pork. Stick-to-your-ribs filling, it’s meant to be a midday meal, usually served on Saturday afternoons or for Sunday lunch.
Instead of using a tough cut that requires hours to become tender, we opt for chorizo, a flavor-packed sausage that boasts a robust, smoky taste. The meat flavors the vegetables and legumes, for a lighter take on the rustic stew. Be sure to use Spanish chorizo, a dry-cured sausage with a firm, sliceable texture, not fresh Mexican chorizo.
Tomato paste, already brimming with sweet, concentrated flavor, is browned early in the cooking process to bring depth to this hearty dish. Browning activates complex flavor compounds called glutamates, which equate to umami and enhance savory richness.
Canned beans, either pinto or pink beans, streamline prep. Bittersweet collard greens simmer low and slow for about half an hour, becoming meltingly tender. Fruity sweet paprika amplifies the flavor of the chorizo.