Hola, St David.

These burgers were the product of me seeing a recipe for 'chorizo burgers' in a magazine and thinking, pfff, I can do better.  So I had a go!  The result is an outre but tasty meld of Spanish and Welsh!

Regular readers will know of my love affair with smoked paprika, so it should come as no surprise that chorizo sausages, redolent of that rusty dusty manna, are also a firm favourite in our house.  I wanted to use leeks because I love them, and also in honour of St Davids Day tomorrow, where Welsh people everywhere celebrate our superiority at rugby and general existence.

Don't argue. You know it's true.



Leek and chorizo burgers - makes 6 large burgers.

500g leeks, trimmed, cleaned and sliced
250g chorizo sausage, chopped.
400g lean Welsh beef mince
1 egg
pinch black pepper
Olive or groundnut oil
Ciabatta rolls, to serve.

Preheat the oven to 200oC.  If you're cooking wedges or chips with these, it will probably be on anyway, so all the better.

Heat 1tbsp or so of the oil in a pan and add the sliced leeks.  Cook for 5 minnutes or so until softened but not obliterated.

Pop them in a food processor with the chopped chorizo and process until blended.  Add in the beef mince and pinch of pepper and process again until combined.  Drop in the egg and process until it's all combined, then scrape into a bowl.

Shape into burgers - the mix will be quite wet and a bit friable at this stage, but work with me.  Pat your burgers into even rounds.   Heat some more oil - an even covering of the bottom of your frying pan - and pop them in when it's sizzling, 2 at a time.  Cook for 2 minutes then gently flip and cook for 2 minutes more.  You're just browing the outside at this stage, so they aren't going to cook all the way through.  When both sides are brown, put the semi-cooked burgers onto a baking tray, or better still, a perforated chip/pizza baking sheet.  Repeat with the rest of the burgers, then pop them into your hot oven for 10-12 minutes until cooked all the way through.

Serve on your ciabatta buns with your choice of accompaniment - we had rustic baked wedges.  I also made a garlic and smoked paprika mayo with 4tbsp mayo, 1 heaped tsp of smoked paprika and 1/2 tsp garlic granules, and I don't mind telling you that it was VERY NICE.

If, like me, you are choc full of whimsy and have small people to feed, you can make mini burgers and cut your rolls into quarters to serve them.  It keeps the snarflings happy, but I draw the line at making happy faces out of their food, so Annabel Karmel - back in yer box.

Paprika chicken with paprika and veggies and paprika bulgar wheat. With paprika.

I love smoked paprika.  I rotate between a couple of perfumes, my day-to-day is 5th Avenue by Elizabeth Arden, but if it was socially acceptable I would roll in smoked paprika straight from the shower in the morning, basting myself with it's sultry sexy smoky perfumey loveliness.  It would turn my skin a shade of orange not even witnessed on TOWIE* but it would be worth it.

I can't do that, obviously, my husband would probably have me sectioned.  So I get my smoked paprika fix by cooking with it a lot instead.  This gorgeous traybake is a fine example of smoked paprika used judiciously to acheive heavenliness.

Smokey Chicken, Root Veg and Wheat traybake - for four.  Play with quantities for more/less.  You know the drill.

As much chicken on the bone - thigh, leg, drumstick - as you care to eat
Likewise as much root veg as you care to eat - I like sweet potato and butternut squash, you can add white potatoes if you wish
a fennel bulb
2 red peppers
A handful of dried bulghar wheat per person
1/2-1 teaspoon of clear honey per piece of chicken (drumsticks will need 1/2, bigger bits 1)
Smoked paprika
dried chilli flakes
dried mixed herbs
1 veg Oxo cube
Olive oil

Put your bulghar wheat, 1 tsp dried mixed herbs, a pinch of dried chilli and the Oxo cube into a bowl, cover with twice the volume of boiling water, stir and put aside to soak it's way to edibility. 

Peel, deseed and otherwise make your root veg and fennel bakeworthy.  Chop into chunks, toss in oil and about 1tsp of smoked paprika and spread onto baking trays.  Pop into an oven heated to 200/180 fan and bake for 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, deseed your peppers and chop into large pieces, setting aside.

Mix 2 tbsp olive oil with 1tsp smoked paprika, a pinch of chilli flakes, 1/2 tsp of dried mixed herbs, and stir.  Brush over the chicken to coat. 

When your root veg have had their 15 minutes, add the pepper and chicken  to the oven and bake for another 20-25 minutes.  Take the chicken out, drizzle with the honey and return to the oven, cooking for another 5-10 until the chicken is cooked through and the veg  is cooked through and starting to blacken and caramelise at the edges.  Stir the vegetables into the soaked bulghar wheat, adding a little more smoked paprika if you think there's not quite enough involved already.  Serve with the honeysweetandsmokeysavourycrispyskinned chicken.  Heaven.

Too much veg?  Reserve some and whizz with hot vegetable stock for soup.  Tomorrow's lunch.  Serve leftover wheat/veg mix cold with salad dressing.  Veggie?  Ditch the chicken (duh!) and cook the veg and wheat, tossing in cubed halloumi cheese just before you serve.

This would make fantastic crowd-food - up the quantities and serve a heaped bowl of the wheat mix alongside a tray of chicken hissing hot from the oven.  Offer up plenty of napkins and get stuck in.









* Jimmy Carr - "I like to shorten The Only Way Is Essex... by turning it off halfway through"