A few years ago we drove to Yecla, around 3 hours from here, for no other reason than to meet up with our friend James Harland who was attending a furniture exhibition there. He is a good client to the spanish and always gets invited to various conferences or exhibitions here. Yecla is full of furniture manufacturers and other than that not really noted for much else to my knowledge. So we collected James from the exhibition hall and headed back into the smallish town and just happened upon an unspectacular looking, but busy, restaurant.
We had not been in Spain very long so were still unsure of quite a lot of things on menu’s, particularly in towns which were in the heart of the countryside or mountains, which Yecla was! Anyhow. we looked at what the local business people were eating and I immediately spotted something delicious looking on the next table so I motioned to our waiter that we would have lots of that please to start. It was simply the most delicious thing I had eaten in ages and consisted mainly of Morcilla and Habas – black pudding with broad beans.
We scoffed a huge plate between us and I can’t even remember what we had to follow it was so good. When we returned home I looked in my Moro cook book and to my delight I found the exact recipe. So here it is for you – even if you think you don’t like Morcilla, give it a go, it is so yummy. Have it for lunch or supper – it takes 15 minutes to make. Perfect.
3 tablespoons olive oil
200 g morcilla cut into slices
2 cloves garlic sliced
Half a teaspoon of fennel seeds (you do need these so don’t be tempted to leave them out!)
1.5 kg broad beans – if you haven’t got an allotment just use frozen ones!
100 ml chicken stock
A good handful of fresh mint chopped
sea salt and black pepper
In a pan heat the oil and fry the morcilla on both sides for a few minutes -then remove and set aside
Add the fennel seeds and garlic to the pan and cook for a minute or two. Add the beans and the stock. If you can be bothered or have a lot of time on your hands, you can peel the broad beans and discard the skins – quite often I lose the will to live by doing this but the end result is perfection. Simmer for 4 or 5 minutes. Then throw in the morcilla and the mint, season with salt and pepper and serve with toasted brioche or some nutty brown toast. To make this a more substantial dish, you can serve with scrambled eggs. Just divine.
Yummy Almeria 
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