Got leftover rice? Asian fried rice is good but chorizo and pesto and rice is equally delightful. Easier to make too with fewer ingredients to prep especially if you keep a jar of pesto in your fridge regularly.
Cook’s notes
In this recipe, the skin of Spanish chorizo was peeled off and discarded, the sausage meat was roughly chopped and cooked until fat was rendered. Leftover rice was tossed in and, off the heat, pesto was stirred in. Because both chorizo and pesto are highly seasoned, there was no need to add salt to the rice.
Yes, we keep pesto in the fridge. Not always, but often. Right now, because we just harvested plenty of basil, we have a large jar of pesto in the fridge. Once the monsoon season is in full swing, we’re not likely to harvest as much and as often. Until then, it’s pesto season galore at home.
Don’t have homemade pesto? That’s okay. You may use pesto from the grocery. So long as it’s good quality, your chorizo and pesto rice will taste great.
Chorizo and pesto rice
Ingredients
- 1 spicy sausage (recommended: Spanish or Spanish-style chorizo, or andouille)
- 1 cup cold cooked rice
- 1 heaping tablespoon pesto
- 1 sprig basil to garnish (optional)
Instructions
- Slit the sausage, peel off the skin and discard.
- Roughly chop (or crumble) the sausage meat.
- Heat a non-stick pan and spread the sausage meat. Cook, stirring occasionally, until lightly browned and fat has been rendered.
- Add the rice to the sausage and cook, tossing, until heated through.
- Off the heat, add pesto and toss to blend.
- Serve immediately.
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