Fresh Green Chorizo

Fresh Green Chorizo
Andrew Scrivani for The New York Times
Total Time
30 minutes
Rating
5(223)
Comments
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Because it’s not stuffed into casings, this vibrant and fiery Mexican fresh pork sausage comes together fairly quickly. The most time-consuming part is roasting the green chiles and garlic, which are then puréed and mixed into ground pork along with spices, parsley and a tangy dose of sherry vinegar. Use the green chorizo as a base for tacos or scrambled eggs, or simmer it with beans into a thick, hearty stew. Wherever you use it though, be prepared for a kick. This is spicy stuff.

And here are several more of our delicious chorizo recipes. —Melissa Clark

Featured in: The Lively Look of Green Chorizo

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Ingredients

Yield:1¼ pounds sausage
  • 1pound ground pork
  • 1teaspoon whole black peppercorns
  • 1tablespoon whole coriander seeds
  • teaspoon whole cumin seeds
  • ½teaspoon dried oregano, preferably Mexican
  • 1dried bay leaf
  • 4whole cloves
  • 8garlic cloves (do not peel)
  • 2Serrano chiles
  • 1poblano chile
  • ¼cup sherry vinegar
  • 1cup parsley leaves
  • 1tablespoon kosher salt
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (6 servings)

218 calories; 16 grams fat; 6 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 7 grams monounsaturated fat; 2 grams polyunsaturated fat; 4 grams carbohydrates; 1 gram dietary fiber; 1 gram sugars; 14 grams protein; 257 milligrams sodium

Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.

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Preparation

  1. Step 1

    Place the ground pork in a large bowl. Set a cast-iron skillet over medium heat for 5 minutes. Add black peppercorns, coriander seeds, cumin seeds, oregano, bay leaf and cloves and toast briefly until fragrant, about 15 seconds. Remove from the heat, transfer to a spice grinder and grind to a fine powder. Add to the bowl with the ground pork.

  2. Step 2

    Return the skillet to a high flame and heat for 5 minutes. Add garlic cloves, Serrano and poblano chiles and roast, turning them from time to time until softened slightly and blackened in spots, about 6 to 12 minutes, removing the pieces as they finish cooking. Set aside to cool at room temperature. Once garlic cloves are cool enough to handle, peel them and discard the skin. Wearing gloves if possible, remove the stems and seeds from the Serrano chiles. Remove the stems and seeds from the poblano chile, and peel away the charred skin.

  3. Step 3

    In a blender, purée the roasted garlic cloves, Serrano and poblano chiles along with the sherry vinegar, parsley and kosher salt until smooth. Transfer to the bowl with the ground pork and spices.

  4. Step 4

    Mix the chorizo with your (preferably gloved) hands until thoroughly combined. Transfer to a container and refrigerate until ready to use, or for up to 3 days. The chorizo can also be frozen in an airtight bag for up to 1 month.

Ratings

5 out of 5
223 user ratings
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Comments

Really great sausage. However, I'd go with coarsely-ground pork next time. Using standard ground pork resulted in the sausage simply crumbling down to nothing while it cooked. Definitely will make again.

I would use a bit less salt the next time, which is not something I would normally say as I tend to like things on the salty side. But I found this to be just tipping the line of being over salted. However, I did enjoy it and plan to make it again.

Love this recipe! I don't have a special spice grinder, so I ground the toasted spices to a powder in my vitamix and then added the roasted peppers, garlic, salt and vinegar to the same jar. This helped save a bit of time on prep/cleanup and helped me get nearly 100% of that wonderful spice mixture out of the blender and onto the pork.

This is phenomenal. Cook it on a medium low heat and then turn it up briefly. It will cook evenly and then sear on the higher heat.

This is phenomenal. I lived in the Yucatan in college and never had this. Fortunately our favorite Mexican restaurant in Seattle (Cactus) introduced it to us. It’s really terrific.

Ground lamb (and maybe up to half pork)is for Basque chorizo. I think the spices are different as well, but you need to go to Reno, NV or Boise, ID to be sure.

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Credits

Adapted from Alex Stupak, Empellón al Pastor, New York

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