Recipe: Blood Sausage with Apple, Almonds and Honey

The inspiration for this recipe comes from a recent holiday to Tenerife. We visited the excellent restaurant La Bodega in San Miguel de Abona where we chose a starter dish of Morcilla de Burgos: the famous Spanish blood sausage.  It was served with a covering of honey and was delicious!  When we returned to the UK, I decided to try to re-create the dish, however I had some difficulty in tracking down the authentic sausage.  I therefore used British black pudding which worked very well as a substitute.  Since then, I discovered the Brighton-based Spanish food supplier Iberica who sells Morcilla.  They attend a number of local food markets in the south east including Brighton, Shoreham, Worthing and Arundel and are well worth seeking out.

One of the key difference between the black pudding we are used to in the UK and the Spanish variety, is that the Spanish version includes rice instead of oatmeal as the bulk of the stuffing.  The rice makes the sausage less dense, and provides a lighter texture.  I also suspect that the spices used in the Spanish version are also different to those in the UK.  I have also discovered the Portuguese/Brazilian equivalent to the Spanish Morcilla, called Morcela.  This too uses rice rather than oatmeal and is very similar to Morcilla.

I would recommend making the effort to track down either Morcilla or Morcela for this recipe, as it does work better with it. However, if you can’t find any, black pudding makes a fine substitute.

This dish is easy to prepare, and ideal as part of a tapas spread, or alternatively enjoy as a starter to an Iberian themed meal. A lightly chilled Amontillado or Oloroso sherry makes an excellent accompaniment.

Serves: 2

Skill level: Low

Equipment required: Small oven-proof dish

Prep time: 5 minutes

Cooking time: 15 minutes

Ingredients:

150-200g blood sausage

1 medium sized apple

A handful of flaked almonds

2 tablespoons of honey

Vegetable oil

Methods:

Step 1: Oil your oven-proof dish to prevent the ingredients from sticking, and add rounds of your blood sausage cut approximately 1 cm thick.

Step 2: Core and dice the apple, and scatter over the sausage with the flaked almonds.

Step 3: Drizzle honey over the dish and place into a pre-warmed oven at 180 degrees Celsius.

Step 4: Roast the dish for approximately 15 minutes until the sausage is cooked through, checking that the almonds do not become burnt.  Serve warm to the table.

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