Tayota Guisada [Video+Recipe] Chayote with Pork Sausage

Humble but flavorful Dominican dish, the mild tayota benefits from the flavors in longaniza in this surprisingly sophisticated tayota guisada con longaniza (chayote and pork sausage).

📝 Ingredients

• 1 pound longaniza ((cornpepper-spiced pork sausage) [0.45 kg])
• 1 medium red onion (diced)
• 4 cloves garlic (crushed)
• 1 cubanela (cubanelle pepper) (chopped)
• 2 tayotas ((chayote), peeled, pitted and diced)
• 1 cup tomato sauce
• ½ teaspoon oregano (dry, ground)
• 1 teaspoon salt ((or more, to taste))
• 2 tablespoons chopped cilantro

👨‍🍳 Instructions

1. 1--- 1. Browning the longaniza ---
2. 2Browning: Cut longaniza into 1" [2.5 cm]-long pieces. Heat skillet over high heat. Add the longaniza and cook, stirring often until it browns (careful with splatters!). Remove and discard excess fat if necessary but leave a couple of tablespoons for sautéing vegetables in the next step.
3. 3--- 2. Cooking tayota ---
4. 4Cooking: Once the longaniza is browned, lower heat to medium. Stir in onion, garlic, and bell pepper. Cook stirring for 30 seconds. Add tayota and cook stirring for another 30 seconds, lower heat if it looks like it might burn. Pour in tomato sauce and stir.
5. 5--- 3. Simmering ---
6. 6Simmering: Pour in 2½ cups [0.6 liter] of water and add oregano. Lower heat and simmer covered until the tayota is cooked through, stirring often to cook uniformly (soft, but not too mushy, it takes around 15-20 minutes). Once the tayota is cooked-through, season with salt to taste and stir in the cilantro. Remove from the heat.
7. 7--- 4. Serving ---
8. 8Serving: Serve hot with arroz blanco (white rice), tostones, and/or avocado.