My hubs loves the sandwich, and I mean loves the bread manwich. The sandwich sits firmly in third place in his priority list: Family, Money, Sandwiches. He recently embraced a new eating lifestyle, the Paleo Diet, and unfortunately, the sandwich has no place on his plate anymore. In case you’re not familiar with the Paleo diet, it basically promotes eating like a cave man–Farmer Girl grass fed beef and pastured meats (yay!)–, fruit, veggies, some dairy (not for the die-hards), and nuts.

I’m a HUGE fan of this Paleo journey, and it’s really not that different from how my hubs tries to eat anyway, except for two muy importante things: Bread and Beer. Oh, what delicacies! Saturday is the one day of the week that he indulges and eats like a modern suburbanite – lots of carbs, a few glasses of foamy beer, and of course, a sandwich.

It was on one such Saturday that he whipped up this chorizo sandwich with aioli, adapted from chef Kevin Davis’ recipe in the Esquire cookbook Eat Like a Man. Well, I am not a man, and most of the time, I certainly do not like to eat like a man. I’m not even a huge fan of sandwiches, to be honest. But I have to say, THIS WAS DELISH! The sandwich was really flavorful with a little kick from the Farmer Girl chorizo, yet it was very fresh and gardeny. We enjoyed our chorizo with a “big” beer, as hubs would say – a Lagunitas IPA.  Again, I’m not a beer lady, but this entire combo was really yummy and a nice change of pace; perfect for any discerning cave man or woman on a sunny, May day.

Chorizo Sandwich with Aioli

Cooking: Easy

Prep Time: 30 Minutes

Cook time: 30 Minutes

Serving Size: 4 servings

Ingredients

• One package Farmer Girl Chorizo Sausage, thawed
• Unsalted butter, softened
• Baguette, or other long bread loaf, split and cut in two
• 4 egg yolks
• Coarse salt
• Fresh lemon juice (1 lemon)
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 cup canola oil
• 1 – 2 teaspoons, or to taste, hot sauce
• Iceberg lettuce, shredded
• 1 tomato, sliced
• Dill or sweet pickle slices

Directions

1.) To Prepare the Chorizo: Remove Chorizo from package and form pattties, to fit on the baguette. In a skillet over medium heat, brown the Farmer Girl Chorizo patties on both sides until cooked through, approximately five to ten minutes. Remove the chorizo to a plate lined with paper towels. Set aside. Butter the baguette sparingly and toast it in the skillet. Set aside.

2.) To Prepare the Aioli: Separate the egg yolks and mince the garlic. Put the egg yolks, a bit of salt, lemon juice, minced garlic, and 1 teaspoon of hot sauce into a blender. Blend to combine, slowling adding the canola oil. Blend until the aioli is thick. Add additional salt, lemon juice, and hot sauce to taste. Farmer Girl Chorizo packs a little kick, so heat will come from both the meat and the aioli. Take that into consideration when adding hot sauce to the aioli!

3.) To Assemble the Sandwich: Shred the iceberg lettuce and cut the tomato into slices. Spread aioli onto both pieces of toasted baguette. Assemble the sandwich by arranging 2 to 3 chorizo patties on the bottom half of the baguette. Top with the shredded lettuce, tomato slices, and dill or sweet pickles (whichever suits your fancy). Place the top slice of baguette on top and give the sandwich a little smoosh. Enjoy.