Chouriço, the Portuguese smoked pork sausage, which is similar to the Spanish chorizo, isn’t generally thought of as a breakfast ingredient. But it’s a great item to include in a meal for kick-starting your day.

Trying to pin down the distinctions between chouriço and chorizo (other than the spelling and nationalities) can be confusing. Both are spicy pork sausages, either smoked or cured or both. The best Spanish chorizos are most often flavoured with pimentón, the distinctly Spanish dried red pepper spice, which is prized and considered in a class of its own. 

Chouriço is all about smoked paprika, garlic and often red wine. Not all chorizo or chouriço is smoked, though most is.

The Portuguese variety I bought was flavoured with paprika, chilli and garlic, and it’s the strong inclusion of garlic that distinguishes much chouriço from chorizo.

But there are so many styles of chorizo in the Iberian Peninsula alone that there’s hardly any point in agonising over subtle differences. Best just to use either product the way they’re meant to be. Often, that is to include them in stews and soups to lend their lovely impact of flavour.

Spanish and Portuguese varieties can be eaten as they are, though they can be sliced and fried when used as a stuffing for an omelette, or with the breakfast bowl recipe below. Mexican chorizo needs to be cooked, however, as it is made with fresh, raw pork and not smoked. The Mexican version is usually flavoured with chillies, unlike the pimentón or paprika of Spanish and Portuguese varieties. They’re often served with nachos or tacos in Mexico, so if you google a recipe that calls for those, you’ve found a recipe for Mexican chorizo, not Spanish. Which means it must be cooked before eating.

Frankly, you could use any of them for this brekker, but if it is Mexican, make sure you cook it thoroughly. 

Here’s our first Lekker Brekker Monday recipe, and please do return here every week for a fresh recipe.

(Per 1 serving)

Ingredients

1 small red onion, or ½ a red onion, sliced

A splash of olive oil

6 or 7 slices of chouriço

8 baby roma tomatoes, halved

A few basil leaves, torn, for the tomatoes, and more for the eggs

3 eggs, whisked

Salt to taste

Black pepper to taste

Butter for coating the pan

Method

Sauté the onion in a little olive oil, gently, for 5 minutes, and remove to a side dish.

Fry the chouriço slices briefly on both sides, and remove.

Fry the halved tomatoes in the same pan at a moderate heat. Season them with salt, black pepper and a few shakes of smoked paprika. Add torn basil, toss for half a minute and remove.

Break eggs into a bowl, season with salt and black pepper, and grind smoked paprika into it; judge how much according to your own taste. Stir in some torn basil.

Add butter to the pan at a moderately high heat.

Arrange the cooked onion, tomatoes and chouriço in a serving bowl. Whisk the eggs, tip them into the pan, and chase the egg around the pan with a fork, working quickly. They will be done in a few seconds. Remove to the serving bowl immediately, garnish with basil, and serve. DM/TGIFood

Follow Tony Jackman on Instagram @tony_jackman_cooks.

This dish is photographed in a breakfast bowl by Mervyn Gers Ceramics.