El Famoso Choripan Argentino (Sausage Roll)

For my first recipe using the many flavours of Chimichurri La Madrina, I am going to talk about a simple meal using Chimichurri La Madrina - El Tradicional. What can I say about this deliciousness that you cannot see in the picture? The "Choripan" is the epitome of Argentinean Fast Food, and the ultimate "Happy Meal" (no need for little toys with this one, kids!). This meal does not require much prepping, but it is a staple in every house. Argies eat it in the street from food trucks, or at home, while they are patiently preparing a huge "asado" (barbecue) on the charcoal grill (typical Sunday lunch).

The origin of the word Choripan is simple: "chori" comes from "chorizo" which is sausage in Spanish, and "pan" means bread. So it is a simple grilled sausage between 2 pieces of bread. But there are a couple of secrets here, which I will now describe.

First, the kind of sausage needed is more of a Spanish sausage, not the skinny one. They are usually pork, very flavourful, a bit more red than the usual ones, and a bit firmer.

Second, the kind of bread we need is a baguette. You can have a dinner roll but the baguette is also firmer which will hold the chorizo and the toppings a bit better and will compliment more the flavour of the grill. Cut the baguette the length of the chorizo.

Third, you need to butterfly both the chorizo and the bread. You can drizzle a bit of olive oil on the inside of the bread. Then place the chorizo on the grill and when it is almost ready place the butterflied baguette on the grill to toast and smoke it for a couple of minutes. Not everybody does this but I suggest it as a great way to enhance the flavour of both the bread and the chorizo with the smokiness of the grill.

Finally, assemble the chorizo on top of the bread, and add a good tablespoon or two of Chimichurri La Madrina, El Tradicional, on top of each choripan. You can add some tomatoes, lettuce and onion of you want. Play some tango music and don't forget to add a picture in Facebook and Instagram #chimichurrilamadrina. Enjoy!