{Recipe} Rice Pilaf With Chorizo

Sometimes on the weekend if by some miracle my girls let me stay in bed a little while, I like to zone out and watch Food Network shows. This weekend I was able to catch a segment on Rachel Ray’s new show and she made Rice Pilaf With Chorizo. I hadn’t made Spanish food in a while so this was sounding delicioso!!

From looking at me – my pale skin, blonde hair and green eyes, it would be hard to believe there’s some Puerto Rican blood running through my veins. (until you saw my butt – always a BIG giveaway!!( 🙂 My father was Puerto Rican and my mom is Jewish (American). What does that make me – a Jewurican? Don’t know but it definitely wasn’t boring having Matzo Ball soup one night followed by rice and beans the next.

I’m not normally a sausage lover but I do like chorizo. For this recipe, I used the fresh kind but you can also use the one that’s already cooked and usually sold next to the pepperoni in the supermarket.

You start off by cooking the chorizo, then slicing it up and browning it again.

Your veggies consist of onions, peppers (it called for pimento but I only had an orange Bell Pepper – use what you have!!) and frozen peas.

You also need chicken stock infused with saffron. I have to warn you – saffron is super expensive but you only need a pinch. It’s only sold in small amounts anyway but just think of it as an indulgence. My kitchen smelled so good once that saffron got into the pan.

To make the rice pilaf you need cut spaghetti which actually comes sold in boxes now as “Cut Spaghetti”. Funny, right?!? Or, of course you can just break up your regular spaghetti. That gets cooked in butter until it toasts up a bit and then you add in some long grain rice and the saffron infused broth.

Once that’s done you combine the chorizo, veggies and rice pilaf and put it in the oven for a little bit. You can then sprinkle some fresh parsley on top.

I also served it with corn on the cob as well as tostones which are fried plantains.