Chorizo & Prawns in Fino Sherry
The marriage of smoky, sweet chorizo sausage with sweet, tender prawns (shrimp) is quite the surprise. The two are made for eachother. Learn how to make this amazing Spanish combination…
This Spanish dish of Chorizo & Prawns in Fino Sherry is the perfect communal food. I'm big into sharing plates - it's how 90% of my meals are presented. I love a full table of dishes that people can weave their arms around - picking, dipping and pouring to create all manner of combinations of flavours.
I also like to serve a dish in one pot or pan that becomes the communal trough (for want of a better word). It looks great, keeps the food hot and saves on washing up - what's not to love?
I ate a lot of communal food in Spain - delightful paellas, char grilled meats, salads and stews. Of course, there's also the communal style food of Tapas, which made Spanish cuisine the envy of the World. It seems, in Spain that eating together and sharing food together is in the blood.
This dish of prawns and chorizo is a thing of beauty and wonder. Nobody can prepare you for just how amazingly the sweet, smoky Spanish chorizo works with sweet, delicate prawns. On paper, it will never work - pork and seafood! Sounds gross, yes? Hell no, it's divine!
A Fino romance
When you combine these two great flavours with a third, quintessentially Spanish flavour, Fino sherry - you're in unchartered realms of flavour. It's a flavour combination unlike anything else - earthy, sweet, fruity and musky - a flavour bomba!
The flavour is obviously what makes this a success, but it's also in one pan, so you lose none of the cooking magic, long after the chorizo and prawns are devoured - you'll be fighting and nudging for every last onion, every last bit of garlic and drip of oil. Bread enables you to scoop and mop all this dish has to offer. I swear, I've tried to wipe off the non-stick of the pan for more of this sauce.
This is why there's quite a lot of extra virgin olive oil added at the end - it's for your own good, I swear - it prolongs the experience by valuable minutes. Trust in me.
That's all you need. This pan of Authentic Spanish greatness and a good loaf of crusty bread. And maybe a salad, to cut through all the richness. It's one of my easiest and tastiest Spanish dishes to make at home.
What is Fino Sherry?
Fino Sherry is a dry Spanish sherry wine. It's the driest of sherry varieties with a crisp, nutty and lightly tangy flavour.
Don't have Fino Sherry?
What can I use instead of Fino sherry? You can substitute with a dry white wine, dry port wine, dry marsala even a crisp, dry cider. Taste it first and don't use if it's sweet. It will not taste good! The best option is a good dry white wine.
More Spanish recipes
If you liked this recipe then be sure to try some my other delicious Spanish recipes.
- Spanish Chicken
- Chorizo Tapas with Fino Sherry
- Pisto Manchego
- Spanish Roasted Red Pepper Salad
- Spanish Eggplant Salad
- Spanish Jamón Croquetas
- Asparagus with smoked alioli
- Tortilla Española
- Pork Ribs with Sherry & Garlic
- Pinchos Morunos
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup Extra virgin olive oil
- 1/2 medium red onion (thinly sliced)
- 5 garlic cloves (peeled and chopped)
- 1 cup cured Spanish chorizo (sliced)
- 1 tsp smoked Spanish paprika (mild or spicy - you decide)
- 1 tbsp fresh oregano or thyme (chopped)
- 500 g fresh prawns (peeled & deveined)
- 1 cup Fino sherry (dry)
- Salt & pepper
- 1/2 cup fresh flat-leaf parsley (chopped)
- 1/2 lemon (juice of)
Instructions
- In a large frying pan over a moderate heat, heat 2 tablespoons of oil. Add the onion and let this fry for 1-2 minutes.
- Add the chorizo, and garlic and let this sizzle for 2-3 minutes, stirring regularly.
- Add the paprika, oregano and then prawns and stir for 1 minute before adding the Fino sherry. Let the sherry bubble for 1-2 minutes to completely burn off the alcohol. Add around 1/2 cup water and continue to bubble.
- Cook the sauce, shaking the pan regularly to reduce the sauce by half (about 4 minutes) Pour in the remaining oil (I KNOW! It sounds like a lot of oil, but trust me - you'll be dipping your bread into this with wanton abandon, minutes from now so you'll thank me). Let the oil cook for 10-20 seconds then remove from the heat. You are almost done.
- Season with salt & pepper. Use salt with caution as chorizo can be salty, so just taste before to see if it needs any. Squeeze over the lemon juice and sprinkle generously with parsley. Now go feed like a wolf!
Nutrition
Did you make my Chorizo & Prawns in Fino Sherry?
How did you go? Let me know in the comments below and be sure to tag @cookeatworld at Instagram.
Going to try this one this weekend Lee, looks delish! Wish you were back in my kitchen to cook it! My utensils are missing your skills :)
It’s a triumph! I’ll be back before you know it to cook you and the family more delights. Get your pans ready. I just wrote a recipe for pease pudding (coming soon) and got genuinely emotional!