Choripán con chimichurri is one of the best sandwiches ever! Uruguayan or Argentinian street food at its best!
Choripán con chimichurri - isn't that a wonderful name? It just fills your mouth with all those ch-s and r-s, love it! And what I love best is the way this choripán taste. Amazing! Top of the list when it comes to sandwiches.
And if you would like more Argentinian or South American food, have a look at these Spicy Beef Empanadas, these Colombian Coca Cola Cocktail Sausages, or this Peruvian Aji de Gallina. Or learn How to Cook Frozen Sausages!
What is Choripán?
Choripán con chimichurri is a very popular street food in many South American countries, not only Argentina or Uruguay but also in Peru, Brazil, Chile, and Puerto Rico. Not to mention the US, where it became very popular especially in the regions with larger Cuban communities, like Miami.
Choripán is a sandwich made with chorizo and crusty white bread, something like a baguette. So the name is a combination of the two main ingredients chori from chorizo and pan – bread: choripán.
Chimichurri is an amazing sauce made with olive oil, garlic, parsley, vinegar, chili, and oregano, which is very generously slathered onto these choripanes. Apparently, the chimichurri sauce originates in Argentina and Uruguay, but it is popular all over Central and South America.
According to Wikipedia, the name chimichurri comes from the Basque world tximitxurri, which can be translated as “a mixture of several things in no particular order”.
What can I say about the choripán con chimichurri? It is delicious, I could eat it every week!!! My whole family loved it and the guests we once had, who got to taste my choripán con chimichurri, said that eating at my place was better than going out. 🙂 That's nice to hear, isn’t' it? 🙂
How to make?
Well, it is just a sandwich after all, so you will not really have any difficulties making it.
Chimichurri sauce:
- You will need are fresh parsley and fresh oregano. Fresh parsley should not be a problem, one can always buy fresh parsley just about anywhere. But just in case you will not be able to find fresh oregano, you could replace that with dried oregano.
- Chop the fresh herbs finely, but don't be tempted to puree the chimichurri sauce. Mix the other ingredients together and add the fresh herbs at the end. Allow the sauce to sit at room temperature for about 30 minutes, this will allow the flavors to develop.
- You could make the sauce one day in advance as well. In this case, cover it well and keep it in the fridge. Take it out of the fridge about 30 minutes to 1 hour before serving to allow it to reach room temperature before you serve it.
- The oil might look weird after spending the night in the fridge, but don't worry about it, it will look normal again once it reaches room temperature.
Chorizo:
- Buy fresh small sausages.
- I cooked the chorizo sausages on the grill pan. First I browned them all around and when they were really brown, I split them lengthwise and grilled them on the cut side as well until cooked through.
- This, apparently, is the typical way to serve the chorizo in a choripán in Uruguay. It also reduces cooking time, which is never a bad thing.
Bread:
- White, crusty bread.
- I used small French-style baguettes, but you can use any similar white bread available in your region.
- My baguettes were about 12-14 cm/ 4.7-5.5 inches long and that was quite good, the sausages fitted snugly inside and one sandwich was also a perfectly sized portion.
Tomato and onion salsa:
- It fits the choripánes very well.
Assemble:
- Assemble the choripánes just before serving.
- Cut the baguettes lengthwise and grill or toast them slightly on the cut side.
- Alternatively, you can split them and warm them in the hot oven (at about 200 degrees Celsius/ 400 degrees Fahrenheit for about 5-8 minutes or until hot and slightly crispy).
- Add a generous spoonful of the chimichurri sauce on one of the bread halves, place the chorizo halves on top and add some more sauce over the sausages.
- Add some tomato and onion salsa and top with the second baguette half. Enjoy!!!
More sandwiches:
Japanese Tonkatsu Sandwich - Katsu Sando
Danish Open Faced Sandwiches - Smorrebrod
Choripán con Chimichurri – Uruguayan or Argentinian
Ingredients
- Chimichurri:
- 1 cup fresh parsley chopped
- ½ cup fresh oregano chopped (or 1 teaspoon dried oregano)
- 5 garlic cloves
- 1 small red chili pepper or 1 teaspoon red chili pepper flakes
- 3 tablespoons red wine vinegar
- 2 tablespoons water
- 1 to 1 ½ teaspoons fine sea salt as needed
- ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- ½ cup olive oil 4.2 fl.oz/ 125 ml
- Tomato and Onion Salsa:
- 2 medium ripe tomatoes 12 oz/ 350 g
- 1 small red onion about 65 g/ 2.3 oz
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1-2 tablespoons lemon juice to taste
- fine sea salt and pepper
- Choripán:
- 6 small fresh chorizo sausages
- 6 small baguettes about 4.7-5.5 inches/ 12-14 cm long
Instructions
Chimichurri:
- Chop the fresh parsley and oregano. Set aside.
- Combine sauce: Grate the garlic cloves and place them into a small bowl. Add the finely chopped chili or the chili flakes. Add the red wine vinegar, water, 1 teaspoon salt, pepper, and 1 tablespoon lemon juice. Stir well.
- Slowly add the olive oil while stirring so that the mixture emulsifies slightly. Stir in the chopped herbs. Adjust the taste with more salt and lemon juice, if necessary.
- Cover and let stand at room temperature for about 30 minutes to allow the flavors to develop.
- The chimichurri sauce can be made in advance and stored in the fridge. Take out of the fridge about 30 minutes to 1 hour before serving to allow the sauce to reach room temperature (Note).
Tomato and onion salsa:
- Salsa: Deseed the tomatoes and dice them. Chop the onion finely. Mix the tomatoes and the onions in a bowl and add the olive oil, lemon juice, and salt and pepper to taste. Set aside.
Choripán:
- Brown chorizo: Heat a grill pan. Brownthe chorizo sausages on all sides, turning often.
- Grill: When deeply brown all over, take them out of the pan, cut them lengthwise, and place the halves back into the pan, cut-side down. Grill for another 2 or 3 minutes until cooked through.Take them out of the pan and wipe the grill pan clean with kitchen paper.
- Heat bread: Cut the baguettes lengthwise. Grill them in the grill pan, cut-side down, until lightly crispy on the cut side. Alternatively, you can split them and warm them in the hot oven (at about 200 degrees Celsius/ 400 degrees Fahrenheit for about 5-8 minutes or until hot and slightly crispy).
Assemble:
- Add a generous spoonful of the chimichurri sauce on one of the bread halves, place the chorizo halves on top and add some more sauce over the sausages. Add some tomato and onion salsa and top with the second baguette half.
Monica says
Love that you had a world food series!! We had world cup fever in this house as well (my son loves following it) and it was fun having things like empanadas and waffles and such at our house, too! We tired but no where as extensively as you did. Way to go. It's so fun to eat internationally and diversify, learning at the same time. What fun and deliciousness.
Thao @ In Good Flavor says
The Portuguese chourico is popular in my area. It is garlicky and liberally seasoned with paprika. My family loves it! Needless to say, these choripánes would get devoured around here! We have never had it served with chimchurri but this looks and sounds deliciuos!!