Most Saturday lunch times at my dear Borough markets you’ll have to part with at least 10 minutes to get your hands on one. Milling around it you’ll find all sorts with big cameras, fanny packs and wide eyes. There’s a sound track that goes a little like this; ‘ Ooh! Look over there! A dead duck! Did you see how pretty those mushrooms were? Oh! Darling- should we get some olive tapenade to have with our carpet picnic back at the hotel? Oh, do you fancy a coffee?’
Clever sorts who have come here to shop and eat know it pays to divide and conquer. They send one of their party to line up for a take away coffee from Monmouth. The other patiently waits in front of the refurbished Brindisa Spanish store for a chorizo roll.
It’s a simple thing, which is what makes it so special. You’ll find a mildly spicy chorizo that’s grilled until it cries little tears of lurid orange oil. It’s smoky from the grill. Then there’s a lightly toasted roll, which is both fluffy and crusty. There’s some slippery piquillo peppers, a tangle of rocket and a squirt of Spanish olive oil.
It’s one of those combinations that is perfect if you need help throwing off the cobwebs from too much cava the night before.
Yet, like so many good things in this world, it suffers the curse of the competent. Just because that’s what it’s so good at doing, doesn’t mean it should be constrained to that role.
It shouldn’t be sanctioned for hangover relief. It shouldn’t be reserved for the times when you can make it to Borough (or London for that matter).
Because, as we’ve just discovered, it also goes quite nicely with a glass or two of pink wine and some quiet time on the couch on a Friday night.
This is one of those dishes that I’m wholeheartedly endorsing you try at home.
And luckily for us, if we happen to drink a tithe too much on a Friday night on the couch, we know that down the road there’s something waiting that can bring us back from the brink.
There’s never such a thing as too much chorizo. Just ask The Hungry One.
Grilled chorizo rolls
(Nb, you at Brindisa you can have your roll with either a single strip of chorizo, or a double. I tend to think a single is sufficient. I think you can guess which kind The Hungry One prefers).
Serves 2.
Shopping/foraging
2 bap or foccacia rolls
100 grams chorizo
6 piquillo peppers
2 handfuls of rocket leaves
2 tablespoons of olive oil
1 tablespoon of lemon juice
Here’s how we roll
If you have a bbq, this is perfect to cook on.
1. Cut the rolls in half and toast them lightly on the grill.
2. Cut the chorizo down the middle so they look like a speed hump. Grill them on a gentle heat until they’re warm and oozing oil. Careful, if you cook them too hot and too fast there’s a chance they’ll become crusty on the outside and rubbery on the inside.
3. Dress the rocket in the olive oil and lemon juice.
4. Slice the piquillo peppers.
5. Place the piquillo peppers on the toasted roll. Add the chorizo and the rocket and close the sandwich.
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| At home version of the famous Brindisa chorizo roll |
I have these for lunch more often than I care to recall (I work near Borough!) so great idea to recreate the chorizo roll experience for a night at home.
If you were indeed in Borough Market on the same day you posted this then there is a high chance we may have walked, scrub that, –squeezed– past each other without even knowing! I was on my own as my better half is away seeing her mum in Portugal this weekend. A solo foodgasm trip isn't as much fun but I got what I needed nonetheless. I will tut and mutter under my breath at the tourists but secretly I feel such pride that this Saturday morning pilgrimage is a mere 30 minute journey from my front door.
I have indulged in the chorizo roll in the past, and you're right, it hits the proverbial spot when you feel that the last glass from the night before was a "bit off". Its true though, sometimes the simplest things can be such winners.
I eat way too many of these… Simple and amazing – popular for good reason! I always have a jar of those piquillo peppers sitting in the fridge, so damn good… As simple as the chorizo rolls are I wouldn't have thought to recreate them at home – thanks for the idea!