How long does chorizo last?

[Scootergrrrl]

I have a whole, vacuum packed chorizo - one of the big ones - in my fridge. I'm fairly sure the best before date has passed (the label got damp and I scraped it off...). In that it's a) cured and b) vacuum packed, do you think it'll be ok to eat? And what can I do with it?

They last FOREVERRRR. In fact, one was discovered in the ruins of Pomeii and successfully added to a Risotto.

Should be ok if it isn't too old... sausage smells funny when off, so open it and have a sniff.

I do a couple of things with chorizo -

• hack it up and use it in tomato sauce for pasta, with large pieces of red and yellow pepper and zucchini

• again, cut it up in bite-size chunks and put it in a glass dish with cut-up potatoes, peppers, fennel (anise) bulb, onion, asparagus, zucchini, cherry tomatoes, carrots. Drizzle very generously with olive oil, sprinkle with salt, pepper, rosemary, basil, some garlic powder (or minced garlic, one clove) and a bit of paprika, and bake in the oven at 425 F for about an hour or until the potatoes are done. You can shorten the baking time if you boil or microwave the potatoes a bit first. Everything becomes cripsy and a bit caramelized.

• or I cut it up in thin slices and serve it with curried quinoa or couscous, and put some green peas, minced onion and garlic, and small pieces of red and green pepper in the couscous or quinoa.

depends if it was a best before date or a use by date. if it's well past the use by date i wouldn't touch it.

Can't remember which. Will I be able to tell by the smell? Or shall I just make the risotto as suggested?

maidamess! It lasts for ever, it's quite salty and the salt preserves it.

If it's off you will definitely be able to smell it... urrrghhh... but it does last forever!

I think it could survive a nuclear explosion!