Morcilla
Morcilla de Burgos is a dark, spiced blood sausage bound with short-grain rice and sweet onion, firm enough to slice yet meltingly soft when fried. Its perfume of clove, cinnamon and paprika is what sets the Burgos style apart from every other blood sausage in Spain.
Approximate, per 1 ración fried (~100g). Values vary by recipe and portion.
Ingredients
- ·500 g pork blood (fresh or reconstituted)
- ·250 g pork back fat, finely diced
- ·300 g sweet white onion, finely chopped
- ·150 g short-grain rice
- ·1 tbsp sweet pimentón (paprika)
- ·1 tsp black pepper
- ·1/2 tsp ground clove
- ·1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
- ·1 tsp dried oregano
- ·2 tsp salt
- ·natural pork casings, rinsed
Method
- 1
Boil the rice in salted water for 8 minutes until barely half-cooked, then drain and cool; it must stay firm as it finishes cooking inside the sausage.
- 2
Gently sweat the chopped onion in a little of the diced fat over low heat for 20 minutes until completely soft and sweet but not browned; let cool.
- 3
In a large bowl combine the blood, diced back fat, cooled onion, half-cooked rice, pimentón, pepper, clove, cinnamon, oregano and salt. Mix thoroughly by hand.
- 4
Fry a teaspoon of the mixture in a pan to taste for seasoning, then adjust salt and spice before filling.
- 5
Loosely stuff the mixture into rinsed casings using a funnel or sausage horn, leaving slack room because the rice will swell; tie into 15 cm links.
- 6
Prick each sausage all over with a pin to stop it bursting, then poach gently in water held just below a simmer (around 80°C) for 30 to 40 minutes until firm.
- 7
Lift out carefully and cool completely; the morcilla firms up and slices cleanly once chilled.
- 8
To serve, slice thickly and fry in a dry or lightly oiled pan over medium heat until crisp outside and creamy within, about 3 minutes a side.