Chef Isabel
Androlla Gallega con Cachelos y Grelos
Androlla is Galician winter food from the eastern mountains: smoked pork rib and skin, cured with pimentón, boiled slowly until tender, then served with cachelos and greens.
Culinary Explorer
A cooking platform built around craft, culture, and the stories behind what we eat.
Chorizo al Vino Tinto Riojano
Created by
Chorizo al vino tinto is La Rioja in a small cazuela: good cured chorizo, red wine, garlic, and bay simmered until the wine turns glossy enough for bread.
Appetizers & Snacks
Spanish
Quick Meal
Dinner Party
Comfort Food
10 min
Active Time
18 min cook•28 min total
Yield4 servings
Chorizo al vino tinto is Riojan, and it belongs to the same table as the wines that made La Rioja famous: sliced cured chorizo, red wine, garlic, and bay, cooked down until the wine clings to the sausage in a dark, glossy glaze. It is not a trick dish. It is the cured larder meeting the bottle already open on the table.
The method that decides it is the simmer. Keep it gentle and uncovered so the wine reduces slowly while the fat from the chorizo loosens into it. Boil it hard and the skins tighten, the wine turns harsh, and the sauce goes greasy instead of shiny. Ten calm minutes do more than five angry ones. There, that's the whole sermon.
Use Riojan cooking chorizo if you can, the semi-cured kind that still gives a little under the knife. If you are far from Spain, use a good Spanish-style cured chorizo with pimentón, not fresh Mexican chorizo; the fresh one collapses into mince and gives you another dish. A Tempranillo from Rioja is right, but any dry red you would drink will do. No hace falta haber pisado España. Slice it thick, reduce it gently, and put bread beside it. Siempre sale, si lo sigues.
In the Margin beside this one I wrote only: "do not sweeten the wine." If the chorizo and the bottle are decent, they need no help.
Chorizo al vino tinto belongs naturally to La Rioja and the Ebro valley, where red wine is not only for the glass but part of the working kitchen. The dish grew from the cured pork larder and the custom of serving small hot bites with wine, using the region's chorizo seasoned with pimentón and garlic. Its Asturian cousin is chorizo a la sidra, cooked in cider; change the drink and you change the place the dish speaks from.
The technique, the tradition, and the story behind every dish.
Discover Culinary ExplorerIngredients
semi-cured Spanish chorizo
Quantity
350g
sliced into 1.5cm coins
dry red wine, preferably Rioja Tempranillo
Quantity
250ml
garlic cloves
Quantity
2
lightly crushed
bay leaf
Quantity
1
extra virgin olive oil
Quantity
1 tablespoon
flat-leaf parsley (optional)
Quantity
1 teaspoon
chopped
rustic bread
Quantity
to serve
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| semi-cured Spanish chorizosliced into 1.5cm coins | 350g |
| dry red wine, preferably Rioja Tempranillo | 250ml |
| garlic cloveslightly crushed | 2 |
| bay leaf | 1 |
| extra virgin olive oil | 1 tablespoon |
| flat-leaf parsley (optional)chopped | 1 teaspoon |
| rustic bread | to serve |
Equipment Needed
- •Small cazuela de barro or heavy 24cm frying pan
- •Wooden spoon
- •Sharp knife
Instructions
- 1
Slice the chorizo
Cut the chorizo into thick coins, about 1.5cm each. Thin slices dry out before the wine has time to reduce; thick ones stay juicy and give the sauce its pimentón-red oil. Pésalo, no lo adivines, because too much chorizo for the wine leaves you with fat and not enough glaze.
- 2
Wake the garlic
Warm the olive oil in a small cazuela or heavy frying pan over medium-low heat. Add the crushed garlic and bay leaf and cook for 30 to 45 seconds, just until the garlic smells sweet. Do not brown it. Burnt garlic makes the wine taste bitter, and there is no fixing that politely.
- 3
Color the chorizo
Add the chorizo coins in one layer and cook for 2 minutes, turning once, until the cut sides shine and a little red oil begins to run. You are not frying them crisp. You are opening the spice and fat so they season the wine.
- 4
Simmer in wine
Pour in the red wine, scraping the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon. Bring it to a small bubble, then lower the heat and simmer uncovered for 12 to 15 minutes, turning the chorizo once or twice. The wine should reduce by about half and look glossy, dark, and loose enough to spoon over bread.
If the pan goes dry before the sauce turns shiny, add 2 tablespoons of water and lower the heat. The fault is heat, not the recipe. - 5
Rest and serve
Take the pan off the heat and let the chorizo sit for 3 minutes. The glaze thickens as the bubbling stops and the fat settles into the wine. Scatter over a little parsley if you like, then serve hot from the cazuela with bread for mopping. Tal como se hace allí, plainly and without fuss.
Chef Tips
- •Use semi-cured Spanish chorizo if you can, the kind that slices cleanly but still feels a little tender. Fully hard chorizo works, but the pieces stay firmer and the sauce takes on more salt.
- •Do not use fresh Mexican chorizo here. It is good in its own kitchen, but it breaks down like seasoned mince and will not give you the sliced, glossy Riojan dish.
- •Use a dry red wine you would drink. Rioja Tempranillo is the cleanest fit, but a young Garnacha or another dry red works. Sweet wine makes the glaze heavy and clumsy.
- •Serve it straight away, with bread. This is small hot food for sharing, and the sauce is half the point.
Advance Preparation
- •Slice the chorizo up to 1 day ahead and keep it covered in the refrigerator.
- •The dish is best cooked just before serving, but leftovers keep 2 days refrigerated. Reheat gently with 1 or 2 tablespoons of water until the glaze loosens again.
Frequently Asked Questions
Nutrition Information
1 serving (about 160g)
Calories
560 calories
Total Fat
38 g
Saturated Fat
13 g
Trans Fat
0 g
Unsaturated Fat
25 g
Cholesterol
80 mg
Sodium
1500 mg
Total Carbohydrates
24 g
Dietary Fiber
1 g
Sugars
3 g
Protein
25 g
Where cooking meets culture.
Culinary guides, cultural storytelling, and the editorial depth that makes cooking meaningful.
Discover Culinary ExplorerMore from Embutidos & the Matanza
Browse the full collection
Chef Isabel
Botifarra amb Mongetes
Botifarra amb mongetes is Catalan: fresh pork sausage cooked through, white beans turned in its fat until glossy, and allioli beside it. Simple food, if the sausage is right.
Chef Isabel
Botillo del Bierzo
Botillo del Bierzo is Berciano winter food: smoked, pimentón-cured pork cooked whole and slow, then served hot with cabbage and potatoes to catch every drop.
Chef Isabel
Cecina de León
Cecina de León is cured smoked beef from León, sliced thin enough to bend, rested until its fat softens, and finished with a thread of good olive oil.