Daddy's Lentil & Chorizo Soup

Don't underestimate the comforting nostalgia found in food. 

I used to have lentejas, or lentil soup in English, at school but I didn't particularly rave about them back then. Then Daddy made this recipe at home and BANG I was immediately transported back to my 17 year old school-uniform-and-knee-high-socks-wearing days. 

The arrival of Autumn is upon us which means snuggles in front of the fire in our onesies eating a big bowl of hearty soup. It also marks the start of a new chapter in my life. I'm packing up, moving out and starting a new job in England. 

So I'm taking this recipe with me for when I'm missing Spain and I literally can't feel my fingers and my toes and the thought of sun warming my skin seems impossible. 

It might not be the exact same Spanish recipe... but it's Daddy's and it's pretty darn good!

About B

My name is Charlotte. A Spanglish adventurer who loves food, cooking and travelling.

I was born in Málaga, Spain, but my parents are British.
Not only that, one is Welsh and one is English. So can you see I'm a little confused about where I'm from?

I'm a bit of a photography fanatic and needed a creative outlet to store all of my weird and beautiful photos, so I started blogging.

I have since become a little bit addicted to blogging.

I hope you enjoy reading my virtual diary as much as I love writing it and filling all these pages with my stories. 

I'm currently based on the Costa del Sol whilst I study towards my masters, so please feel free to leave me a comment as I would love to hear what you think or if you would like any information about life in Spain, I would love to help!

But as my Mummy says: if you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all!

Guacamole

Everyone needs a good party trick.

Some might touch their nose with their tongues, show off an impressive acrobatic trick or tell a funny joke.

Mine is Guacamole.

It makes an appearance at almost every dinner party we ever have at home. I whip it up about ten minutes before everyone arrives and is always met with uuhhs and aaahs of admiration.

Because nothing beats fresh Guacamole. NOTHING.

I'm a big fan of the 'making it at home' foods rather than 'store bought' ready meals.

Not only are meal times more exciting, but when you make it yourself it tastes inifinitely better!

Guacamole is surprisingly easy to make and tastes so much better than any Guacamole you will ever find in the supermarket. 

Dinner at Antonio's

Being away from Spain for extended periods of times makes me nostalgic for all things Spanish.

Especially when you FaceTime your parents sitting in 40ºC whilst you are wrapped up from head to toe in warm clothes, it's raining outside and it's August in England.

After a little research and endless days yearning for some fried calamares and gambas pil pil, I found Antonio's on TripAdvisor.

A kind Spanish expat named Antonio had opened up his own restaurant in Fareham serving the delights of Spanish cuisine right on the High Street's door.

It had some pretty good reviews and some authentic-looking-Spanish-food photos so my chap and I decided to go there for some early dinner on Saturday evening.

After about twenty minutes in the car, a few wrong turns and a few crossed words, we arrived.

We got a nice warm welcome from a nice man whom I assume was Antonio, who showed us to our table. 

*we later found out this was Carlos, but we met the actual Antonio too!

Our little tummies were rumbling and we couldn't decide what to have for starters.

So we ordered three.

Gambas al alajillo (garlic prawns), fried calamares and fried whitebait with alioli (garlic mayonnaise)

This is my 'hurry up and take the blinking photo, I want to dive in to this bowl of prawns' face.

For mains I had the solomillo de cerdo (pork) with melted cheese and tomato sauce and a biiiig helping of vegetables of course.

Oh it was heaven and the sauce reminded me of home!

He ordered the seafood spaghetti.

Not exactly Spanish but... it was filled with calamares and seafood and prawns so I will let him off (this time).

We waited an eternity for our dessert order to be taken during which time conversation got a bit silly...

Or maybe that was just me!

Eventually we skipped our usual Amaretto and Baileys fling and opted for a Ben and Jerry's ice cream affair at home instead.

I skipped, hopped (and tripped) my way back to the car, positively stuffed to the brim. 

The food and atmosphere is fantastic at Antonio's but I do think the food lacked a little bit of seasoning. We didn't even get salt and pepper on the table and the place got quite busy even to ask for some! 

I definitely want to go back though and savour their delicious tapas lunch menu. 

See you there?