Chorizo with Mushrooms

My aunt and uncle were over this afternoon for lunch with my cousins Pooja and Divya. They requested that I make a paella. My uncle loves lobster and shrimp, so a seafood paella it was! The paella recipe was secretly shared to me in a private lesson with a chef from our favorite restaurant in the Canary Islands. Chef Juan swore me to secrecy, so sshhh! this one stays with me. But the tapas were pretty fabulous (if I may say so!) and so much fun to make.
Most of the prep work was done the night before, so cooking for lunch this morning was fun and quick.
The tapa that was fabulous for me was this one– Chorizo with mushrooms.
This recipe was inspired by Jose Andrés recipe for Catalan pork sausage with mushrooms in his book Made in Spain. 


Serves 4 tapa portions
Ingredients
1/2 pound spicy chorizo, thinly sliced
1/4 pound mixed wild mushrooms (I used Black Trumpet and Hedgehog mushrooms*)
1 tbsp Spanish extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 onion sliced
1 tbsp Spanish sherry vinegar
1 bay leaf
2 springs fresh thyme
2 tbsp raisins
2 tbsp pine nuts
1 tbsp chopped flat leaf parsley


Method

1. Heat the olive oil in a large sauté pan over medium-high heat. Add the sausages and brown on both sides, about 2 minutes. Remove with a slotted spoon and transfer to a plate.
2. Add the onions to the pan and cook, stirring occasionally, until it is soft and golden brown, about 10 minutes.
3. Deglaze the pan with the vinegar and add the mushrooms, thyme, bay leaf and thyme. 
4. Cook for another 5-7 minutes, or until the juices from the mushroom have evaporated.
5. Return the sausage to the pan, mix in the raisins and the pine nuts.
6. Season to taste with salt and garnish with the parsley.

Enjoy! This one will get your eyeballs rolling all over and your guests busy with eating! 
*Black Trumpet mushrooms are from France and Hedgehog mushrooms are from the Pacific Northwest and also from Europe.