Guisados – Longaniza in Red Sauce

Longaniza is, like chorizo, a type of sausage brought from Spain to Mexico and its other colonies sometime in the sixteenth century. Their similarities and differences were discussed in another post.  Continuing with the guisados motif from my previous two posts, one of the characteristics that make longaniza great in saucy guisados, is that it keeps its shape much better than crumbly chorizo; I have shared a classic Mexican recipe for longaniza in green sauce before (click here for recipe), and this one in red sauce is equally delicious.

Longaniza in Red Sauce – Longaniza en salsa roja

Printable recipe: Longaniza in Red Sauce

Ingredients (for two main courses)

4 dry red chile peppers (I used two guajillos, and two anchos); wiped with a damp towel
3 medium tomatoes; washed
½ cup boiling water
½ onion; peeled and cut into chunks
1 clove garlic; peeled
½ tsp salt, or to taste
3 tbsp oil
1/3 lb (150 g) longaniza (click here for my recipe, or commercial)
2 medium potatoes; boiled, peeled and cut into chunks
Warm corn tortillas, to serve

Remove and discard stems and seeds from dry peppers.  Roast cleaned peppers and whole tomatoes on a dry skillet (no oil) over medium heat (photo below, left).  Transfer peppers to a bowl as soon as they crisp, to avoid burning; pour boiling water over, and allow to soak for 10-15 minutes (photo below, right):  

Continue cooking tomatoes until charred and soft; cut into quarters, remove stem end, then transfer to a blender jar with any juices collected on the cutting board.  Add onion chunks, garlic clove, salt, and peppers with their soaking water (photo below, left).  Process in the blender until smooth (photo below, right):

Warm up two tablespoons of oil in a pot over medium heat, then pour sauce and cook, stirring (photo below, left); continue simmering for at least fifteen minutes.  Meanwhile, remove casing from longaniza, then slice into chunks about one inch in length;  cook with one tablespoon of oil in the skillet over medium heat, turning the chunks frequently (photo below, right):

Once fully cooked and browned all around, transfer longaniza sections to the pot with the sauce (photo below, left), and add the cooked potatoes (photo below, right):

Bring to a boil, then simmer for another fifteen minutes, stirring occasionally.   Serve hot with warm corn tortillas on the side:

The vapour carrying the smell of this delicious longaniza dish was irresistible, so it was gobbled up in no time, first on its own, then by doughtily wrapping a generous portion with a double tortilla, along with some Mexican style rice, for an “armoured” taco (taco acorazado):

---

The nutrition values below were calculated for two main courses with two corn tortillas per portion:

---

I am bringing my recipe to Full Plate Thursday #512 with Miz Helen @ Miz Helen’s Country Cottage.

---

I am joining Fiesta Friday #356 with Angie @ FIesta Friday.