Cured Spanish Chorizo Plate with Warm Paprika Oil

By Sprig Originals ✓ · cooked up in Sprig

A proper Spanish tapas plate built on one good sausage: true dry-cured chorizo español, chilled, then shaved paper-thin on a hard bias so each coin is wide, pliable and glossy. Half the plate stays cold and raw-cured, the way it's served in Madrid; the other half spends ninety seconds in olive oil until the edges frill and the pimentón bleeds out into the pan, giving you a warm slice plus a smoky red oil for dunking bread. Manchego, Marcona almonds and quince paste round it out. No cooking skill required — just the right sausage and a sharp knife.

Ingredients

• 8 oz dry-cured Spanish chorizo (chorizo español), sweet or hot

• 1 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 tsp sherry vinegar
• 1 pinch smoked paprika (pimentón dulce), optional

• 4 oz Manchego cheese, aged 6–12 months
• 1/3 cup Marcona almonds
• 3 oz quince paste (membrillo)
• 1/2 cup guindilla or piparra peppers, or cornichons
• 1/2 cup green olives, such as Manzanilla or Gordal

• 1/2 loaf rustic baguette or country bread, sliced 1/2 inch thick
• 2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil, for the bread
• flaky sea salt

Instructions

1. Buy the right sausage. You want a firm, dry, ready-to-eat link labeled chorizo español, chorizo curado, or chorizo ibérico — it should feel hard like salami and be sold unrefrigerated or in the cured-meats case, never in the raw-meat cooler. Fresh Mexican chorizo is soft, raw ground pork in a casing and will not work here. Look for pimentón (Spanish paprika) high in the ingredient list; choose dulce for sweet and mellow, picante for a slow chile heat.
2. Put the chorizo in the freezer for 15 minutes (or the coldest part of the fridge for 30). Cold, firm sausage is the whole trick to thin slices — at room temperature it smears and tears.
3. Trim off the tied ends. Run a paring knife lengthwise through the casing and peel it back; on a well-aged link the casing is edible but chewy, and removing it gives you cleaner coins. If the casing clings, leave it on and slice through it.
4. Lay the link on a board and hold your knife at a 45-degree angle to it. Slice on that bias as thinly as you can manage — 1/16 to 1/8 inch — so each slice comes off as a long oval, not a small circle. The bias nearly doubles the surface area and makes the fat melt on your tongue. Fan half the slices out on a serving board and set aside at room temperature for 20 minutes; cold chorizo tastes waxy.
5. For the warm slices, heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in a small skillet over medium-low. Add the remaining chorizo slices in a single layer and cook 60 to 90 seconds per side, until the edges curl and frill and the oil turns brick red. Keep the heat moderate — high heat scorches the paprika and turns it bitter.
6. Slide the pan off the heat, add the sherry vinegar (it will hiss), and swirl for 5 seconds. Taste the oil; if you want it redder, stir in a pinch of smoked paprika off the heat.
7. Transfer the warm slices to the board alongside the raw-cured ones, then pour the red paprika oil into a small dish or straight into a shallow well on the board for dipping bread.
8. Toast or grill the bread slices until lightly charred at the edges, 2 to 3 minutes, and brush with olive oil. Cut the Manchego into thin wedges or 1/4-inch batons, cut the membrillo into small squares or matchsticks, and arrange with the almonds, peppers and olives around the chorizo. Finish the cheese and warm slices with a little flaky salt and serve immediately, with the paprika oil for dunking.

Chef's tips

Nutrition (per serving, estimated)

More from Sprig Originals

Char-Grilled Oysters with Garlic-Worcestershire Butter

Dark Roux Seafood Gumbo with Quick Shrimp Stock

One-Skillet Blackened Cajun Chicken Pasta

Are you this recipe's original author or publisher? Report a problem