Roasted Corn and Linguiça Stew

This Roasted Corn and Linguiça Stew is so hearty and spicy, and it is the perfect recipe for enjoying fresh summer corn and tomatoes. 

This Roasted Corn and Linguiça Stew is filled with fresh vegetables, including a sofrito of onions, garlic, red bell peppers, and tomatoes, which you can make in advance.

There are so many layers of flavors in this stew. First, there is the sofrito. In addition to the sofrito, there are roasted piquillo peppers, hot paprika, and red chile flakes... not to mention linguiça sausage, crème fraîche, and garlic.

This month, the Soup Saturday Swappers group (created by A Day in the Life on the Farm) is collaborating on the theme, English Stews, chosen by Sneha's Recipe.  English stews you ask? Evidently, they are defined by the Oxford Dictionary as a dish of meat and vegetables cooked slowly in liquid in a closed dish or pan.

This recipe fits the bill, except for the "covered" part. I'm hoping I can sneak it in because it is inspired by one of my new favorite cookbooks, The London Cookbook: Recipes from the Restaurants, Cafes, and Hole-in-the-Wall Gems of a Modern City, by Aleksandra Crapanzano. My friend Sally from Bewitching Kitchen wrote a review of the book, and I'm pretty sure it was written to make me buy it, which I did immediately. In this book, the author explores the food from some of London's best restaurants. Be sure to read Sally's review.

During the summer, you can make this dish with fresh ingredients, and during the winter, you can make this dish with frozen corn kernels and canned tomatoes. It's wonderful either way.

I had about a cup of sofrito left over, which I stirred into scrambled eggs for breakfast, along with some leftover sausage. So good.

After the recipe, be sure to check out the rest of the English Stews from my Soup Saturdays pals.

Roasted Corn and Linguiça Stew Recipe

Ingredients

For the Stew:

• 3 cups fresh or thawed and patted dry frozen corn kernels
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 pound linguiça sausage (or sausage of your choice), sliced
• 1 cup peeled and diced red, white, or yellow potato
• 4 cups chicken stock or broth, homemade or low sodium
• 2 cups sofrito (recipe below, can be made up to 10 days in advance)
• 1/2 cup chopped roasted piquillo peppers or roasted red peppers
• 1 cup crème fraîche
• 3 tablespoons chopped chives
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• Hot or smoked paprika to taste
• Red chile flakes, to taste
• Salt and pepper, to taste

For the Sofrito:

• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 pounds yellow onions, sliced thinly
• 4 cloves garlic, sliced thinly
• 2 red bell peppers, peeled and sliced thinly
• 2 cups fresh (grated) or canned whole tomatoes (pulsed in a food processor)
• 1 bay leaf
• Pinch of sugar
• Salt and pepper, to taste

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with foil. Mix the corn with 1 tablespoon of the olive oil, and spread in a single layer over the foil.
2. Bake the corn for about 10 minutes. Remove from the oven and set aside.
3. Heat one tablespoon of olive oil in a 4 quart sauce pan or Dutch oven, and add the sausage slices. Cook over medium heat until the sausage is browned. Remove the sausage from the pan and set aside.
4. Add the potatoes to the pan and cook in the rendered sausage fat for a couple of minutes to let the potatoes absorb some of the sausage flavor.
5. Add the stock, sofrito, piquillos, and corn, and bring the mixture to a boil. Reduce to a simmer, and continue cooking for 20 minutes.
6. While the broth is cooking, mix the crème fraîche with the chives, garlic, paprika, chile flakes, and salt and pepper.
7. Add the sausage to the broth. Add half of the crème fraîche mixture into the stew, and cook for an additional five minutes. Garnish each bowl with the rest of the crème fraîche mixture and a light dusting of paprika.

To make the sofrito:

1. Heat the olive oil in a large skillet. Add the onions and garlic and cook for about 20 minutes over medium low heat, until softened. 
2. Add the bell pepper and continue to cook for another 20 minutes. Add the tomatoes and bay leaf and cook on low for 25 minutes more. Add the sugar, salt, and pepper. Remove from the heat.

Yield: 4 servings
Adapted from The London Cookbook

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