Tag Archives: chorizo

Chicken and Chorizo Paella

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Chicken and Chorizo Paella

I’m not getting into an argument about whether chorizo belongs in a paella or not – I like to add some cubes of chorizo and think that this improves the flavour. END OF.

The paella is cooked over the flames shortly after the fire is lit. The idea is to use the heat from the flames to fry the onions, meat and other ingredients, before adding the rice and the stock and then cooking over a more constant heat once the fire has died down a bit.

We lit the fire at 13:00 and the paella was ready at 14:00.

One of the secrets to making a good paella is to get a beautiful layer of the caramelised socarrat on the bottom of the pan. You can see how much liquid is left and by cooking the paella for a final 10 minutes on a gentle flame when there is not much liquid left, you should get the socarrat of your dreams.

 

CHICKEN PAELLA

INGREDIENTS

  • 1 onion, finely chopped
  • 1 green pepper, finely chopped and 1 red pepper, sliced
  • 3 or 4 tomatoes, coarsely grated
  • pinch of saffron
  • 3 cloves of garlic
  • 1 cup of green beans
  • 1 cup of garrofones (large, flat butter beans)
  • 1 cup of frozen baby artichokes
  • 20cm stick chorizo, cubed
  • chicken stock
  • 60g paella rice per person
  • salt and pepper
  • olive oil extra virgin
  • water

METHOD

  1. In a pestle and mortar, grind the saffron, garlic and a pinch of salt. Add a tablespoon or so of water and leave to infuse.
  2. Heat some olive oil in the paella pan.
  3. Add the onion and quickly fry over the flame for a minute or so.
  4. Add the green pepper and the red pepper and fry quickly.
  5. Add the chopped chorizo and fry.
  6. Add the grated tomatoes and fry for a further minute.
  7. Add the green beans, garrofones and artichokes.
  8. Sprinkle in the rice and stir well.
  9. Stir in the saffron/garlic mixture.
  10. Add the stock and the white and green beans and mix well.
  11. The rice will take about 40 minutes to cook. It is important to make sure that it has enough liquid for the first 30 minutes or so, so sprinkle over more water as required. You can always cover with a lid to ensure that the rice cooks properly.
  12. The socarrat will caramelise during the last 10-15 minutes of the cooking time so you want to ensure that the paella is moist enough by now and not add any more water than necessary.
  13. When the rice is cooked, you can leave covered for 10 minutes so that all the liquid is absorbed.
  14. Serve.

Vegan chorizo

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SPICY VEGAN CHORIZO

This is a great recipe for spicy vegan chorizo and it doesn’t take long to make. Its main ingredients are sun-dried tomatoes and almonds, two things we have plenty of here at the cortijo.

The red pepper is roasted over a flame. Turn it a couple of times until the skin begins to blister and then pop it into a plastic bag. Before you need to add it to the mix, rub off the blackened skin.

Spicy Vegan Chorizo

This recipe is quick to prepare and tastes delicious.

 

INGREDIENTS

  • 220g dried tomatoes
  • 200g raw almonds
  • 120g soft rolled oats
  • ½ large red pepper, roasted
  • 2 teaspoons dried garlic
  • 2 teaspoons dried onion
  • 2 teaspoons smoked paprika
  • 1 teaspoon cumin
  • 2 teaspoon oregano
  • 1 teaspoon thyme
  • 1 teaspoon spicy paprika
  • 2 teaspoons salt
  • 1 tablespoon white wine vinegar or cider vinegar
  • 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

 

METHOD

  1. Steam the dried tomatoes over boiling water for 15 minutes.
  2. Transfer the tomatoes to a boil, add a splash of boiling water and cover.
  3. In the food processor, blend the almonds and oats until coarsely ground and then transfer to a separate bowl.
  4. Blend together the tomatoes and red pepper.
  5. Put the almonds and oats back in the blender.
  6. Add the remaining ingredients and pulse a couple of times.
  7. Divide the mixture in half.
  8. Roll out each half on greaseproof paper to form an even sausage shape.
  9. Roll up in the greaseproof paper and store in the fridge for 24 hours.

Hake and Chorizo with White Beans

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cortijoblog fried potato cake

HAKE AND CHORIZO WITH WHITE BEANS

If you are using dried white beans, this recipe can be cooked in a pressure cooker and it will take about 30 minutes. Alternatively, you can use canned beans and cook it on the stove top. This recipe works well with any type of white fish such as hake or cod. You can replace the dried cabbage with fresh, chopped cabbage.

fried potato cake

 Hake and Chorizo with White Beans

This fish dish can be easily and quickly prepared in a pressure cooker.

INGREDIENTS

  • 200g dried white beans, soaked for 24-48 hours
  • 80g spicy Spanish dried chorizo, thinly sliced
  • 1 medium onion, roughly chopped
  • 3 cloves garlic, finely chopped1 glass red wine
  • 1 teaspoon dried thyme
  • 2 hake fillets
  • 2 teaspoons dried oregano
  • 2 tablespoons concentrated tomato sauce
  • extra virgin olive oil
  • salt and pepper

METHOD

  1. Put the beans in a pressure cooker, cover with water and cook for 15 minutes.
  2. Quick release the pressure and drain the beans.
  3. Heat some olive oil in the pressure cooker.
  4. Gently fry the onion until soft.
  5. Add the chorizo and fry for another couple of minutes.
  6. Fry the garlic for 30 seconds or so.
  7. Add all the other ingredients and the beans but not the fish to the pan.
  8. Mix well and season with salt and pepper.
  9. Pour over a cup of water and bring to the boil.
  10. Cover the pressure cooker and bring up to pressure.
  11. Turn down the heat and simmer for 10 minutes.
  12. Turn off the heat and leave for 5 minutes.
  13. Release the pressure and open the cooker.
  14. Check that the beans are cooked.
  15. Lay the fish on the top.
  16. Put back on a low heat.
  17. Cover and leave for 10-15 minutes.
  18. Serve.

Spicy Black Bean and Chorizo Stew

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cortijoblog black bean and chorizo stew

BLACK BEAN STEW

We tend to eat a lot of pulses and beans in stews over the winter months or “platos de cuchara” as they are know here. This type of dish is very common throughout Spain and each region has its own speciality, whether it is Fabada in Asutria or Cocido in Madrid. I had never cooked with black beans before and this dish was something I discovered during the first COVID lockdown in 2020 and has been a firm favourite ever since. It’s a really simple recipe with only a few ingredients but is simple to make in the pressure cooker and tastes delicious. You’ll need to soak the beans overnight in water and rinse and drain them before using.

cortijoblog black bean stew

Spicy Black Bean and Chorizo Stew

This is a simple but delicious stew that can be prepared in no time at all.

 

INGREDIENTS

  • 250g dried black beans, soaked for 24 hours
  • 100g spicy chorizo, sliced
  • 1 onion, finely chopped
  • 1 chilli pepper
  • 1 vegetable stock cube
  • salt and pepper
  • olive oil extra virgin
  • 1 teaspoon sweet paprika
  • ½ teaspoon smoked spicy paprika
  • 1 litre water

METHOD

  1. Heat some olive oil in a pressure cooker.
  2. Gently fry the onion until soft.
  3. Add the sliced chorizo and fry for another couple of minutes.
  4. Stir in the paprika and add the remaining ingredients.
  5. Cover the pressure cooker and bring to pressure.
  6. Turn down the heat and cook for 60 minutes.
  7. Turn off the heat and leave the pressure cooker for 5 minutes before releasing the pressure.
  8. Serve.

NOTES

The cooking time will depend on the bean so if you are using older beans, you should adjust the cooking times accordingly.

Home-made chorizo

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Home-made chorizo

Home-made chorizo

Even though we didn’t have our own pork this year, I decided to make some chorizo. That way I would know exactly what goes into it and how much fat it contains. The recipe basically calls for 80% meat and 20% fat but as the pork belly I bought was very lean, the fat percentage was considerably higher. It is possible to make chorizo completely from scratch, adding your own spices and flavourings to the meat and fat mixture. However, as the climate on the coast is warmer and more humid than in the mountains, and not ideal for drying and curing meats, I wanted to be completely sure that there wouldn’t be a problem and we wouldn’t all be poisoned so used a ready-made chorizo mix call “Chorizol”. I then added more oregano, chilli pepper and chopped garlic.

INGREDIENTS:
4kg shoulder of pork
1kg belly pork, derinded
1 sachet chorizol
2 1/2 teaspoons chilli pepper
8 cloves garlic
handful oregano
hog casings

PROCEDURE:
Mince the meat and fat together. Add the remaining ingredients and mix well. Leave to mature in the fridge or a cool place for 24 hours.

Put the mixture into the casings. Shape into individual sausages.

Making chorizo sausage

Making chorizo sausage

Hang up to dry in a cool, airy place. The ideal temperature is between 10ºC and 13ºC. Leave to dry for 7 days. If the temperature is cool enough, you can store the chorizo outside the fridge but I decided to freeze it and take out use as needed. I also saved some of the fresh chorizo back and froze it without drying.

chorizo2