Queso Fundido with Chorizo
Queso fundido, which translates to molten or melted cheese, is the more flavorful cousin of queso, and usually oven baked. It’s not as “dippable” as queso as it doesn’t have added liquid, just lots of delicious melted cheese. While you can put it on chips, it’s also great served with 4-5 inch round soft tortilla shells, so everyone can make their own little cheese taco. The chorizo in this recipe is the fresh chorizo made in-house by our butchers and sold in one-pound packages. It’s not the cooked, smoked chorizo that’s encased into a smokie. You’ll only use ½ pound for this recipe, but go ahead and fry up the whole package with onions and peppers and use the rest to make quesadillas for tomorrow’s lunch. Queso Fundido is usually made with Asadero, Mennonite, Manchego or Chihuahua cheeses. These cheeses are hard to find outside of Mexico, so Monterey Jack is a good substitute. Do not use pre-shredded cheese, as it has an additive that keeps it from clumping together in the bag and doesn’t melt as well.
Queso Fundido with Chorizo
Ingredients
½ lb. fresh chorizo sausage
½ small onion, finely diced
½ small red or orange pepper, finely diced
Approximately 10 ounces – 1 lb. Monterey Jack cheese, grated (I used half regular Jack and half Jalapeno Jack)
Instructions
Heat oven to 400 degrees.
Line a plate with paper towels. In a cast iron skillet over medium heat, fry chorizo, onion and peppers until cooked. Once it’s cooked, place chorizo mixture on the paper towel and press out as much fat and liquid as possible. Wipe the cast iron skillet clean. Place chorizo back into the bottom of the skillet and cover with grated cheese.
Place in oven and bake for 10-15 minutes, just until cheese is melted right to the middle. It will start to get stringy if baked too long, so watch carefully. Remove from oven and serve immediately with tortilla chips or soft taco shells.
