When my husband and I visited Mexico City, Mexico, you can bet that a significant part of our trip revolved around food. In fact we even opted to take a cooking class one evening, which definitely was a first for my husband!
Before the class, we were led by the chef through a large market, which is where I first spotted green chorizo. (And a bright red variety as well. I would bet there’s some food coloring involved here.)
After we came home I began researching green chorizo and it’s everywhere! Why I haven’t noticed it before is beyond me. Based on this recipe, I think I might like it more than traditional Mexican chorizo.
The recipe I decided on is from the blog Mexican Please. The blog is written by Patrick, who moved from Los Angeles, California, to Cozumel, Mexico, to escape the rat race. He expected a vacation, but ended up staying for two years, eventually learning about Mexican ingredients and cooking his own dishes.
The green color of this chorizo comes from fresh and roasted chile peppers, cilantro, and parsley. I don’t think the exact amounts really matter in this recipe. The chile peppers include poblanos and serranos. The recipe also called for Mexican oregano.
Green Chorizo, or Chorizo Verde
2 lbs. ground pork
2 poblano peppers
1/2 bunch cilantro
1/2 bunch parsley
2-3 serrano peppers
4 cloves garlic, peeled
2 teaspoons Mexican oregano
1/2 teaspoon cumin
Freshly cracked pepper
2 teaspoons salt
1/4 cup cider vinegar
Splash of water
Rinse the poblanos. Roast them in the oven at 400F for 20-30 minutes. You can flip them over once halfway through the roasting period if you want. (I always use my gas stove for roasting chile peppers. Here’s a tutorial if you’ve never roasted any kind of peppers before.)
De-stem and de-seed the poblanos and remove the blackened skin.
Rinse the serrano peppers and cut off the stems. Slice in half lengthwise and remove most of the seeds.
Rinse the cilantro and parsley. Add the cilantro and parsley to the blender along with the garlic, the oregano, cumin, salt, freshly cracked pepper, and the cider vinegar. Then add the chile peppers. Blend until smooth, adding a little olive oil and also water only as necessary to blend.
Add green mixture to the ground pork in a mixing bowl. Use a spoon or your hands to combine.
I decided to make the green chorizo into small meatballs.
I couldn’t stop eating them.
An egg dish with chorizo sounded like a perfect test. Unfortunately I was not sure if I was going to make an omelet, or just a scramble, so my eggs look terrible!
But nonetheless, they were delicious.
I served the eggs with crema, salsa, and pico de gallo. Delicious.
And then I made a white bean chicken chili with the green chorizo. It was incredible also.
