My husband is half-Spanish and loves making charcuterie and sausages. Over the past year, he has been adjusting his chorizo recipe in the quest to make the best chorizo possible. A few weeks ago, as I was considering what to make for dinner, he was making a fresh chorizo that looked promising. So that gave me an idea for a new recipe!
Below is a recipe for a risotto that is full of Spanish paella flavours! On top of the fresh chorizo sausage, this recipe includes a sofrito to enhance the Spanish influence. Then we have the traditional Italian arborio rice and the parmesan cheese. Together these flavours are a match made in heaven!
The quality, taste and intensity of the chorizo sausage that you use will highly impact this recipe. So take this into consideration as you make the dish and adjust accordingly.
- 3 tablespoon olive oil
- ½ pound fresh chorizo sausage (I like removing the meat from the casing to allow for more intense browning of the meat however you can cook the sausage as is as well)
- 2 shallots, minced
- 1 red, yellow or orange bell pepper, diced
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 tomatoes, seeds removed and grated
- Salt and pepper to taste
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 1 cup arborio rice
- ½ cup white wine
- 4 cups chicken or vegetable broth
- ½ cup parmesan cheese, grated
- Heat one tablespoon olive oil in a Dutch oven and cook chorizo over medium high heat until the sausage is cooked through and nicely browned. Once cooked, remove the meat with a slotted spoon, place it in a bowl and set aside.
- Leave the rendered fat in the pan, add one more tablespoon of olive oil and the minced shallots and diced bell pepper. Cook the shallots and the peppers for 3-4 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for 30 seconds. Add the grated tomatoes, season with salt/pepper and cook the sofrito for 5 minutes till the flavours are well blended and vegetables are cooked. Spoon the mixture into bowl with the sausage.
- Add butter and one more tablespoon olive oil in the pan. Add arborio rice, coat with the oil and toast it for a minute or two.
- Add half cup white wine while scraping any tasty bits from the pan and cook until wine has evaporated.
- Add warmed broth, a couple ladles at a time stirring often. Once the rice is cooked though however still has some bite, add back the sausage and sofrito. Turn off the heat and add Parmesan.
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