Last year my husband and I visited Madrid, Spain, and stayed at the lovely Four Seasons Hotel. The breakfast buffet option was substantial and impressive, from traditional pastries, iconic Spanish dishes like the tortilla de papas, and the luscious Iberico ham and other cured meats.

I’m not usually a buffet kind of gal, but this breakfast spread was too fun to ignore. On our first morning at breakfast, I chose a fun selection of goodies, including something I’d not heard of before – sobrasada. It was tasty, but it was mushy. Certainly not like a slice of chorizo or salami.

When I got home I looked up sobrasada, and it’s fairly straight forward to make, using meat, fat, and lots of paprika. But it’s still mushy and requires a fork to eat. That’s when I came across this sobrasada spread! I was so excited! If sobrasada has to be mushy, then why not serve it as a spreadable appetizer?!

The recipe is from HEB.com, which is a supermarket chain from Texas. I have no idea whose recipe this is, but it is incredible. I will be making this for guests.

The spread contains spicy Spanish chorizo, piquillo peppers, and marcona almonds. All courtesy of Amazon.

Spanish Sobrasada Spread

1/4 cup cold water
7.9 oz cured chorizo, diced small
1 teaspoon dried oregano
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1/4 cup fresh shallots, chopped
3 garlic cloves, smashed
1 cup manchego cheese, shredded
1 cup Marcona almonds
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
4 roasted piquillo peppers
1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika

In a food processor, combine all ingredients and pulse to combine until smooth and creamy. Add cold water as needed for smoother spread. I pulsed the chorizo by itself first to make sure it got into smaller pieces, which they did. Remember to peel the chorizo.

I halved, de-seeded, and rinsed the piquillos first, then layed them on paper towels. No other ingredients needed prepping.

The processing of the spread was easy. I did use a small amount of water.

I don’t understand the purpose of the vinegar; I would use one tablespoon next time.

And when you serve manchego, don’t forget the membrillo! Here’s a recipe for home-made membrillo from a lovely blog called Cocoa and Lavender.