How do I love thee, let me count the ways…Boy, does chorizo take sausage to an entirely new level, with it’s spice and acid. I fell in love with chorizo after spending Thanksgiving with friends in Reno, Nevada. This trip was back in 2011 when I was really starting to experiment with new flavors in the kitchen and for the Thanksgiving festivities, I decided to make one of my famous strombolis because when I found ground chorizo at the supermarket, I was immediately intrigued and instead of my traditional Italian cured-meat stromboli, I want with chorizo cheesy goodness 😋.

Across the US West and South West, you can buy chorizo in most supermarkets, but here in New England it takes some searching and after that trip to Reno, I was determined to make my own chorizo. Lucky for me, my grandmother’s Rival meat grinder was still around and I gladly began grinding my own sausage.

I start by cutting my pork butt in 2inch cubes. I place those cubes on a sheet tray and freeze for 10-15mins. I like freezing the pork slightly because I find it easier to work. Two, you want to keep your pork cold while you work with it. Meanwhile, I make the chorizo paste with lots of heat in a food processor. Don’t be afraid of heat and seasoning with chorizo sausage.

Because I’m using a manual grinder it certainly takes some elbow grease and I often run the pork through the grinder more than once to create a finer ground sausage, this is key to breaking down the pork and combining the meat and fat.

Once your pork is ground, fold the seasoning paste in. Mix until very well combined. I usually wear cooking gloves, so I can really get in there and mix the ingredients.

Once the chorizo has been mixed, I refrigerate the sausage overnight so those ingredients come together. I typically package the sausage into multiple 1lb containers or freezer bags. This sausage freezes well, but you want to make sure you’re buying your pork fresh if you plan to freeze.

Ingredients

• 5lbs of well-marbled boneless pork butt or shoulder
• 1 can of chipotles with the adobo sauce, if you prefer milder chorizo just include a pepper or two
• 8 cloves garlic
• 1/4 cup red wine or apple cider vinegar
• 1TBS ground cumin
• 2TBS ancho chili powder
• 3TBS chili powder or cayenne pepper
• 1tsp dried oregano
• 4TBS of sea salt
• Fresh ground pepper

Instruction – See above