Spanish Rice with Chorizo

Printable version

This dish features a pound of fresh chorizo, a pork sausage with heavy seasoning. Chorizo has two different forms - Mexican and Spanish. Both are loaded with spices native to their regions and it comes raw and cured.

For this recipe, I use a raw Spanish version of chorizo that needs cooked. It's joined by red pepper and onion and the three form the base of the recipe. Once the that gets going garlic, smoked paprika, oregano and long grained rice is tossed in. The rice is toasted and allowed to soak up a little flavor before the chicken broth is added.

The mixture is then covered, heat reduced and simmered for twenty minutes, then removed from heat. It’s important to keep the cover on at this point - the steamy environment inside the pot allows the rice to absorb all of the moisture and fully cook through, removing the lid stops this process and the dish will not finish properly. After ten minutes the cover is removed, the rice is fluffed and the feast of Spanish rice with chorizo can begin!

BEHIND THIS BITE
I have started something new. The first 200-words or so of a post are now going to be detailed descriptions of the cooking process involved in the recipe. This won’t always be needed, especially with pizza or burgers, but I will start doing this whenever applicable. It is just a small refinement in presentation, the first in a long time that is meant to improve the writing.

I have made many tweeks and changes to the design and photography and thought it was time to try and enhance the narrative in each post. I came to this conclusion while looking through my blog recently. Each dish is put together in its own unique way and I thought a detailed description of that process would be a nice addition to the overall narrative. Describing the cooking process also gives me a unique story for each recipe because each recipe is one-of-a-kind.

I started this earlier with my grilled loin recipe. I am not always going to do this, but I will when applicable. For those of you here for more than just the cool graphics and are still reading at this point, I hope you enjoy the changes!

Eat well, cook often ...

THE RECIPE
Serves 4; 45 minutes
1 lb Chorizo fresh
1 C Red pepper, diced
1 C Onion diced
1 Tbs Garlic diced
1 tsp Smoked paprika
2 tsp Oregano
1 1/2 C Rice
3 C Chicken broth
Cilantro for garnish

Brown chorizo, sauté vegetables
In a large skillet over medium heat add chorizo, onion and red pepper. Cook until chorizo is browned and vegetables are soft, 5 to 6 minutes.

Add garlic, spices, rice; finish
Stir in garlic, spices and rice, cook until garlic is fragrant and rice is slightly toasted 2 to 3 minutes. Add broth, cover and simmer on low for 20 minutes. Remove from heat, keep lid on tight. Let rest for 10 minutes more. Remove cover, fluff with a fork and serve. Garnish with cilantro (optional).