Potatoes with butifarra sausage, an easy finger-licking recipe
Last Updated on
Total: 1 h 20 min Diners: 4
Typical of Castilla y León, specifically Palencia, potatoes a la importancia quickly reached Madrid where they were adopted with good taste. This simple recipe, which in post-war times had no additives, such as butifarra sausage, was intended to compete in times of scarcity with widowed or poor potatoes, other recipes that abounded at that time.
Ingredients
. Potatoes, 3 u Fresh sausage, 250 g Eggs for the batter, 2 u Wheat flour, 200 g Onion, 2 u Garlic cloves, 2 u Saffron, 8 strands White wine or amontillado, 200 ml Extra virgin olive oil, 400 ml Meat or chicken stock, 800ml Salt and black pepper, c/s Fresh parsley, a handful
Step 1
The first thing we will have to do for some good potatoes a la importancia will be to peel the potatoes, wash them well and cut them into discs of – approximately – 3 millimeters. We will also peel the onion and garlic and chop them in brunoise as small as possible to make a good sofrito.
Step 2
In a large, very hot frying pan, sauté the cut sausage over high heat until browned all over and set aside.
Step 3
In the same frying pan, taking advantage of all the juices that the sausage will have released, add a little olive oil and the chopped onion and garlic and let them brown over medium heat with a little salt, stirring from time to time so they don’t burn.
Step 4
At the same time, place a pan or frying pan, not too big but deep, with soft olive oil and heat it, in it we will fry the battered potatoes. Dip the potatoes in flour and then in egg and, automatically, fry them a few at a time, so that they brown well on the outside. Once browned, remove to a plate with absorbent paper towel to remove the larger pieces of fat. We try that, in spite of the forcefulness of the stew, the potatoes to the importance with butifarra are not excessively heavy.
Step 5
With the sauce ready, add the saffron threads, stir for a couple of minutes and then add the potatoes to the pan, taking care not to mash them or hit them so that they do not “peel”. Add the wine and let it evaporate over high heat for a couple of minutes.
Then add the stock and cover everything. Cook over low heat for about 25 minutes, taking advantage of the back and forth of the pan to move everything and not introducing any utensil to avoid breaking the potatoes. When they are ready, add the sausage, season with salt and black pepper and finish with plenty of chopped parsley if desired.
Tricks and Suggestions
The potatoes to the importance are, in fact, a stew of few ingredients and all humble that probably at the time was made with beef fat to fry the potatoes or lard due to lack of means and food but that has come down to today becoming one of those stews that now tries to recover in the classic Spanish recipe book.
Every time we have to make a sofrito, it is best to chop all the Vegetable Recipes as equal and small as possible, that will give us a more uniform roasting and more flavor.
The secret of the potatoes to the importance, whatever the “addition” that is done to him as it is in this case the butifarra, resides in the broth that is used to cook them that will give soul to our stew. You can use the most appropriate broth for each topping, in this case one of meat or chicken, but if we make potatoes with clams it would be a good fish fumet. For the meat or chicken stock of this recipe, I always recommend that you make it homemade, roasting the bones in the oven beforehand until they take on a nice dark golden color. Broths are a key fundamental part of cooking, they take time and have their cost but if you start making them yourself you will see how your dishes achieve much more surprising results. If you do not feel like it or do not have time, you can always opt for broths in brick, there are good brands.
