Spanish Baked Rice with Chorizo and Chickpeas Recipe on Food52 (2024)

FAQs

What goes with chorizo? ›

Chorizo is a dry-cured pork sausage with a salty, smoky, slightly sweet flavour. Perfect in pasta, or paired with chicken in paella, and you can't beat a tomato and chorizo risotto or frittata.

Most Spanish chorizos feature three common ingredients: pork, smoked paprika and garlic. The pork is coarsely chopped and mixed with bits of pork fat and seasonings, which vary based on the region. The mixture is then stuffed into natural casings, and the chorizos are left to cure and dry.

Fresh chorizo is raw, made with ground pork, and resembles hot Italian sausage in texture and appearance. It's the stuff that you'd get behind the butcher's case. Dry chorizo also looks like sausage, but more like cured sausages and salame.

Health Benefits of Chorizo

Protein – Protein helps in muscle growth and body development. Vitamins and Minerals – Chorizo is a good source of vitamin B12, B3, and B6, which plays a vital role in maintaining body functions and energy production. Iron and Selenium are the minerals offered by chorizo.

Seriously Sharp's bold flavor and texture is a perfect match for the spicy, smoky taste of chorizo. Place chunks of Seriously Sharp Cheddar Cheese, diced chorizo, and green olives on small skewers for a fun, festive, and flavorful appetizer.

Mexican vs Spanish chorizo

“Mexican-style chorizo is actually raw meat that's been heavily seasoned with dry chilies and aromatic spices like cinnamon and clove. Spanish chorizo is a hard sausage that's been cured like a salami,” explains Sánchez.

Mexican chorizo is generally a fresh sausage and is usually cooked like ground meat or other sausage links. Spanish chorizo, on the other hand, is a dried cured sausage with a completely different texture.

Some of the cheapest commercial chorizos use offal stuffed in inedible plastic casing to resemble sausage links, rather than muscle meat. Before consumption, the casing is usually cut open and the sausage is fried in a pan and mashed with a fork until it resembles finely minced ground beef.

No matter which method you choose, remember to always cook your chorizo to a minimum internal temperature of 160 degrees Fahrenheit. You can use a meat thermometer to check for this.

Can you cook chorizo in an air fryer? ›

Cooking the Sausage

Add the chorizo links in the air fryer at 400 for 10-12 minutes. You do not need to spray with a non-stick spray at this point – the sausage will release enough juices in the air frying process. Cook the sausage until it reaches an internal temperature of 165.

If you've ever prepared sausage of any kind, you'll know one method for preparation is cooking it in the oven. When you're trying to determine how long to bake your chorizo, consider whether it's sliced into smaller pieces or whole. Typically, you'll want to bake chorizo for around fifteen minutes at 350-400 degrees.

Drizzle the chorizos with the balsamic vinegar and sprinkle over the thyme, place in the oven and roast for 15-20 minutes or until the sausages are golden & the tomatoes cooked through.

Chorizo, even if opened, has a very long shelf life. It is cured, brined, and frequently smoked. If it's sealed, it will last indefinitely. But if opened, the end exposed to air might get dry and grey, so just cut it off and enjoy the rest.

How to store chorizo. Keep chorizo in the refrigerator away from uncooked foods. Sliced chorizo should be used within a week of opening, while whole sausages can be kept for up to two weeks.

Chorizo holds up well when simmered in a flavorful liquid. Chorizo stewed in Spanish red wine is delicious and traditional, but cooking the sausage in apple cider is just as tasty, and adds a mellow sweetness that pairs well with the smoky, spice. Serve the stewed links with rice or potatoes as a hearty dinner.

Chorizo can be bought as a whole sausage of either soft cooking chorizo – which must be cooked before eating – or a firmer, drier cured sausage that can be sliced and eaten without cooking. It is also sold thinly sliced, like salami, to be enjoyed raw as tapas.

Because chorizo is spicy and heavily seasoned, it usually doesn't need any additional seasoning. Chorizo is also very fatty, and cooking it releases a large amount of rendered fat. These tips will help you navigate this delicious ingredient and find plenty of delectable uses for it.

Mexican chorizo is a fresh sausage—it's usually made from pork, but can also be made using beef. The meat used for Mexican chorizo is finely ground and mixed with various seasonings and spices made from red peppers, giving it a bright orange hue.