Red Wine Chorizo
With Blistered Cherry Tomatoes & Fresh Herbs
Share this Recipe
I was provided with a copy of Cooking with Cocktails by the publishers - but I'd already bought a copy of my own. Because this book is amazing. All thoughts and opinions are my own. Also note that this post includes affiliate links. I make a commission from these links (at no cost to you) that helps keep Diversivore running.
You want to know the best thing about cooking somebody else's recipe? You don't have to be overly modest when it tastes ridiculously good. And in this case, I not only get to share a phenomenal recipe, I also get to share the spectacular cookbook that it came from. I'd better pace myself before I run out of superlatives.
I'm exceedingly happy to be hosting a recipe from Cooking with Cocktails by the wildly talented Kristy Gardner. In fact, I'm proud to be the anchor leg in an online book-tour-relay that has featured a whole swack of amazing bloggers (and amazing recipes). Kristy was one of the first bloggers I ever reached out to when I started Diversivore, and I'm now very proud to call her a friend. So when she asked me if I would review and share her new book - well, I didn't even pause for a moment. Sure I wanted to help a friend - but I also knew that I was in for some really, REALLY good food. And now, so are you.
I had a bit of trouble deciding what to make - everything sounded great, but I was a little pressed for time. But the clouds parted when I got to page 67 and came face-to-plate with this recipe. It's one of those dishes that you KNOW is going to be a hit just based on the title. Red wine. Chorizo. Blistered cherry tomatoes. Herbs. I mean, c'mon, what's not to like? And you only get more excited when you realize how easy it is. The recipe itself is a red wine lover's dream come true (so pick a really solid and delicious wine), and if you serve it alongside a nice loaf of crusty, warm bread - well it's basically heaven. Plus, the ingredients are all easy to source, so you could be enjoying this VERY soon. In fact, if you keep reading, you can enter to win a copy of the book, and then you'll be enjoying it for free! Well... I mean, you need to buy the wine and chorizo. I don't think I can mail sausage.
EDIT: The contest/giveaway has now closed. Thanks!
Cooking with Cocktails
Kristy is the a writer extraordinaire (she's actually an extraordinaire at many things, but we'll stick to writing for now) with a knack for good eats and a penchant for cocktails. So when opportunity came knocking, she did the brilliant-yet-logical thing and smashed the two together. Cooking with Cocktails: 100 Spirited Recipes is a gorgeous (and clearly delicious) collection of recipes made with, inspired by, and crafted around cocktails and other boozy delights. Snacks, mains, drinks, desserts... it's a fantastic book. Oh and Kristy's writing is a blast to read - she's fun, vivacious, and more than a little spirited. Perfectly suited to the material.
If you'd like to read some of Kristy's writing (and you should), you can check out her book announcement and links to all of the other stops in the blog/book tour right here.
Looking to pick up a copy? My fellow Canadians can grab a copy from Chapters/Indigo, or from Amazon. American readers can pick up a hard copy or e-book on Amazon, at Barnes and Noble, or from the publisher. And EVERYONE (including North Americans) can find the book on the Book Depository. Please note that this final link is an affiliate link - if you purchase from the Book Depository I see a small commission that helps keep Diversivore running.
Recipe Notes
This is a wonderfully simple recipe, and the original instructions from the book tell you everything you need to know. I will make a few little notes specific to my particular attempt at the recipe though - hopefully they'll help a few of you out.
When it comes to the serving size, this is a pretty flexible recipe. I cut the recipe down a little and it worked wonderfully. I'm sure you could halve it or even quarter it if you wanted to make a very small portion. Likewise, it could easily be doubled to serve a party, though your cooking times would probably be extended a fair bit to cook down all the liquid. On that note - choose a good wine that you enjoy the taste of, as it's going to impact the final dish pretty heavily. In the name of full disclosure (and with apologies to the Spanish), I used a Bordeaux. But hey, that's just a mere 200 km or so from Spain... so... close?
As for the herbs, the recipe is pretty flexible on the combination you use (though I personally wouldn't go with all thyme). I had a lot of flat-leaf parsley and a little bit of fresh oregano, so that was the combination I went with. I can wholeheartedly recommend it. I also really like the suggestion to add a few extra herbs on top of the whole thing before serving - in fact I would shuffle that from 'optional' to 'highly recommended.'
As for serving, I went with freshly baked bread and there was no looking back. It's a pretty fantastic way to go, and if you can get it fresh out of the oven, it's that much better. It's worth noting that the meal itself is gluten-free, but if that's important to you then you'll have to chose a bread to match. Alternately you could stretch this out and make a full meal out of it by serving it alongside some polenta, couscous, or pasta. Cooking with Cocktails includes a great recipe for simple, classic polenta that would work very nicely.
Win a Copy of Cooking with Cocktails!
Sorry, the contest has closed - keep your eyes peeled for more giveaways in the future, or click here to subscribe for updates so you're among the first to know!
Nutritional information is given for a single serving (1/4 of the total recipe) and does not include bread or polenta.
Nutritional Summary
Ingredient Pages
No ingredient pages have been written yet for any of the ingredients in this recipe. Like to see one? Let me know in the comments below or by email.
Pantry Pages
No pantry pages have been written yet for any of the ingredients in this recipe. Like to see one? Let me know in the comments below or by email.
Red Wine Chorizo with Blistered Cherry Tomatoes & Fresh Herbs
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 large onion thinly sliced
- salt to taste
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- 4 links fresh chorizo sausage sliced into 1-inch pieces
- 1.5 cups dry Spanish red wine
- 15 cherry tomatoes halved
- 1 bay leaf
- 1/2 cup chopped fresh herbs (e.g. thyme, oregano, and/or flat-leaf parsley)
- 1 tbsp unsalted butter
- crusty bread to serve (optional)
Instructions
- Heat the oil in a large frying pan over medium-low heat.
- When shimmering (but not smoking), add the onion, season with salt, stir well, and allow to cook for 5 to 7 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- When just starting to caramelize, add the garlic and mix well.
- When fragrant, throw the chorizo into the pan and brown on all sides. This should take about 5 more minutes.
- Pour in the wine, add the tomatoes, a pinch of salt, and the bay leaf, and stir well to combine.
- Bring to a simmer and allow the mixture to reduce for about 10 minutes, or until the sauce has thickened and is no longer "soupy."
- Discard the bay leaf, add the herbs and butter, and stir to combine.
- Serve with a loaf of your favorite bread and, if desired, a few additional herbs sprinkled on top. Eat.
Notes
Nutrition
More Sausage? More Sausage.
Sausage & Eggplant Bucatini with Fennel Tomato Sauce
Winter Gumbo with Andouille Sausage & Jerusalem Artichokes
Share this Recipe
Comments
You want to know the best thing about having somebody else make your recipe? You don’t have to be overly modest when it you tell them just how ridiculously good THEY are. Seriously Sean – this is amazing. Thank you so so so much for being part of my cookbook tour and for writing such beautiful things about my book. You ARE a friend and a damn good one at that.
P.S. “I don’t think I can mail sausage”…. That’s what she said!! (sorry, couldn’t help myself)
Hahahahaa.
My favourite thing to make with spirits is anything with a glass of red wine in my hand! My second favourite thing to make with spirits is anything with a lemon drop in my hand. And I have to say with all modesty, I make the BEST lemon drops! 🙂
Please add top my previous comment. . . .
This book by Kristy looks like it would be a lot of fun to work through and this particular recipe will end up on our table in the next few days. Thanks for the great ideas.
I totally get how hard it was to choose a recipe! I have a copy with sticky notes sticking out from the sides at all angles! Top stickies are “make immediately”, side stickies are “these look so good”. I see my alcohol consumption increasing this year. *burp*
I’ll have to add a sticking note to this recipe if there’s not one already there! (pretty sure it’s there however)
I will admit, I chuckled a bit when I saw that you chose this dish to make. IT’S SUCH A YOU DISH. It also reaffirmed how well we’ve gotten to know one another over the past year — food-wise, anyhow! It looks like you did this dish mad justice. Love the photos and it looks tasty AF. If I ate pork, I’d dive right in here.
As for my fave way to cook with cocktails, that’s easy: in a glass next to me 🙂
Mmmm, this has everything I love in one bowl. So good..and guess what? My copy of Cooking with Cocktails came in the mail yesterday!! I was wondering why it was taking SO.DAMN. LONG then I noticed I had put it in my cart but hadn’t paid yet. D’oh.
Looking forward to cooking some damn delicious recipes, possibly this one.
This looks delicious. I love chorizo, but have never had it this way.
I love chorizo, and in fact any Spanish food really. Looks beautiful!
I love to cook with wine and add it to unsuspecting dishes such as chili. I’ve also been known to flambe a dessert or two. That’s always a show.
What a fun idea and how could you go wrong with “Cooking with Cocktails?!” Yum!
I absolutely loved seeing Cooking With Cocktails through your eyes, Sean! The way you write Kristy is so spot on and it was such a delight to savour your rendition of her dish in this post. I also have a copy of her book but haven’t had a chance to get into it fully — but I can’t wait! Thanks for sharing this recipe — the simplicity of the ingredients and the depth of flavour definitely has me excited to dig into the book. 🙂 Have a great weekend (you too, Kristy if you’re reading this)!
I love the notion of a book about cocktails and how to turn them into recipes. I do love a cocktail but I only ever have them when I am out, so it would be lovely to have some guidance on doing my own at home. Shame I can’t enter as I’m in England!
Looks like an exciting book, with loads of great eats. Always nice to have a relaible book to lean on. The recipe you made looks really tasty too, lots of flavour and goodness. Perfect supper dish.
I love cooking with wine, love chorizo and cherry tomatoes so this looks like a perfect dish for me! 🙂 What a great book!
I love chorizo and always fancy the addition of wine in my cooking. This sounds awesome
Chorizo is a popular breakfast food with rice in the Philippines.
But with red wine,why not? The food looks awesome and the recipe is easy….
I think a little wine for the recipe and a little for me while cooking.
Yum! What a delicious and hearty looking meal! Red wine and chorizo are a perfect match.
Thanks for sharing
Julie
You rebel- using a Bordeaux for a Spanish dish hahaha! I love this though- I love using wine (and liquor) when I’m cooking, because it really brings out some incredible flavors! Plus I like that you didn’t use a cheap cheapy cheap wine- when you can taste the wine, it’s kind of nice to use a wine that tastes great right?!
What an interesting and wonderful sounding cook book. This is such a wonderful tapas style dish to enjoy with a glass of wine. Would be perfect to make when entertaining.
Oh my gosh, I soooo need this book!!
Cooking with wines and spirits can add such a depth of flavor to a meal. It isn’t that you taste the alcohol, but rather that it imparts a kind of “what is that secret ingredient” quality. Gorgeous dish.
Oh, wow! This recipe looks so amazing! It would be perfect for cozying up next to the fire to enjoy on a cold night!
This looks absolutely mouthwatering. Of course I’m a huge chorizo kinda gal — and wine, well… you know… As I look at this dish, I want to serve it on top of a mound of soft, creamy polenta – am I wrong — cause it just seems right… Keeping my fingers crossed that I win a copy of this beautiful book!
I must admit that I never tried cooking with a cocktail. I tend to stick to wine because it’s so familiar to me. With that said, I would really like to learn more about cooking with other booze. 🙂 The book looks fantastic!
Lovely post. Would love a copy of this book.
I have never cooked with cocktails. If I’m going to use alcohol in cooking it’s usually beer or wine or sake, and then it’s like, “one for the dish, one for me.”
This is one dreamy dish! I love cooking with wine the most for savoury foods. I find it adds just enough acid to a dish to balance it out properly. Baking however is completely different story. I adore using bourbon as its flavour evolves and pairs so wonderfully with a ton of different ingredients. I like it the most with vanilla though.
This is a delicious looking dish. I was browsing this book in Chapters and it is beautiful. I would love to win a copy!
I love cooking with red wine and I have a rioja crianza calling my name.
Oh my gosh I love cooking with vodka and wine! Vodka sauce is one of my favourites but you can’t beat wine in French onion soup or risotto. Other than those recipes, though, I don’t really cook much with alcohol and I would absolutely love to experiment more by trying some of the recipes in Kristy’s book 🙂 As usual, you are making me super hungry Sean!!!
What a gorgeous dish! I love how vibrant and inviting the colors are (gotta love the combination of a great recipe and beautiful photography!). I think this would be prefect to serve on a date night in- it has a certain “wow factor” this is just perfect to enjoy with that special someone!
Nice dish with Spanish flavors! I like that you guys made a full dish out of the traditional tapas “chorizo al vino”. Nothing like a great drunken meal! I cannot participate sadly in the give away since I’m living on the other side of the Atlantic pond but I’ll still let you know anyway my favorite alcohol to cook with: BRANDY! Love a touch to glaze or to kick a meal up in the end. Great Job on this post Sean!
I just went to amazon to flip thru a few pages of her book… I just love her blog and her photos in the book are an example of to die for photography! I love cooking with gin in my bouillabaisse…. it adds a depth of flavor I cant quite duplicate with anything else!
I hope I win the book, but honestly I have always loved her things so I know Im going to buy it so I hope I win one so I can gift it to my brother who will then make me lots of the recipes for dinner when we come over! (thats a win/win!)
Every time I see one of the ‘stops’ on Kristy’s book tour, I smile. This book looks SO GOOD, like one of those ones you’d find on the ‘Recommended’ tables at Chapters. Red wine is always great with a meal, but adding it into the meal itself sounds like a party. Plus, blistered cherry tomatoes are heaven (can’t wait for tomato season!).
Re: the contest question, I like adding liquors to dessert (big surprise), especially chocolate-flavoured ones into deep, chocolatey dishes. It really heightens the flavour and adds an almost imperceptible zing to the recipe.
Oh dry red wine, how I love thee! But seriously, this recipe looks exactly like something I’d eat – I will add it to my “must try pile!”
Cooking with liquor is always fun! I generally keep various bottles of liquor on hand simply for cooking. Loving this Spanish Chorizo looks delicious. Can’t wait to try it with some of my home grown tomatoes this year!
The book looks awesome! Love your recipe featured on this post!
First off, this is such an amazing book, and it’s so great that you are doing a giveaway of it! You know me and my love of cocktails and anything boozy, so it’s something after my own heart! Red wine can go with almost any meal, but in a meal is better, and I could just almost taste the crusty bread with it! What a lovely description you gave it! Cheers to you and to Kristy!
First off, the cookbook title is totally me. Secondly I don’t blame you for stopping on page 67 when you read that recipe title. I always LOVE cooking with red wine. The combination of lfavors sounds spot on. I just may be picking up a copy for myself! Yum yum yum!
OK I need that book, and I’m really sorry I missed the raffle. 🙁 But the chorizo recipe looks INSANE! For the wine, myself, I’d suggest a Rioja (it is Spanish but they are divine, delicious, and cheap. And honestly it’s so perfect you can serve it as an hors d’oeuvres, appetizer, or full on main course!
First of all, what gorgeous photos! I absolutely adore simple, full-flavored recipes like these. The pairings of the chorizo, red wine (I have a bottle of Garnacha that might be begging for me to make this dish), tomatoes, and aromatics sound so warming and inviting. I would absolutely love this with polenta. What a beautiful and satisfying meal. Congratulations to Kristy on what looks like a stunning book. Blogging is such a unique opportunity to connect with exceptionally creative people; how wonderful that your journeys have brought you together in friendship!
Oh yum, I think I would have stopped twice at that title as well – a lot of deliciousness going on in one recipe 🙂 Sounds amazing and the photos make me want to try it straight away 🙂