It isn’t everyday that you get to meet famous chefs who’s cook books you’ve salivated over or who’s tv shows you’ve watched eagerly or who’s recipes you constantly source on youtube. So when the effervescent Rachel Allen popped into town for a charity dinner, I jumped at the chance to meet her. Having sampled some of her recipes on a week long menu curated by The Sassy Spoon ( they were hosting Rachel and her charity dinner) I thought what better way to showcase her food by sharing one of her recipes that I love.
The food is normally the high point but in this case it was chatting with Rachel, Chef Irfan and Chef Rachel ( who own the restaurant ) and have all the chefs take pictures with Tiny 😉
Usually I’d review the food but in this case the menu is no longer available at the restaurant so you wouldn’t be able to sample it even if I did write a review. So I thought the next best thing would be to share her recipe which is easy to whip up and simply delicious. This is a pork based pasta but it’s so simple to replace the protein with say mushrooms or any vegetable of your choice. Hope you enjoy this one! Happy cooking!
Chorizo Pasta
Ingredients –
7-8 tomatoes
2 small onions
6-7 Cloves of Garlic
1 packet of Chorizo
1 small packet of cream ( Amul is great )
1 packet of Pasta of your choice – Penne/ farfalle
Grated Parmesan Cheese
Thyme
Rosemary
Salt
Pepper
Fresh Basil
Paprika
Oregano
Method –
Remove the skin from the tomatoes and chop them up. The easiest way is to dunk them in a pot of boiling water and it softens the skin so it peels right off. You could also purée the tomatoes if you don’t like chunks but I feel some chunks in it give it a nice texture as well. It really depends on what you like.
Add some oil and add the chopped onions, cook till they soften and turn translucent. In fact give it enough time on the stove to cook so it acts as a base for the sauce.
add the chopped tomatoes and cook for a while till you see it softening. If you’ve pureed them then make sure it’s a slightly thick paste and not pureed till it’s almost soup like.
Add the chopped chorizo and cook till you see the meat changing colour slightly. Chorizo can get a bit chewy if not cooked enough or if it’s too big a piece so try to cut them slightly smaller.
Add some salt, pepper and the rest of the seasoning. You can keep adding and tasting till you like the flavours. Add the chopped basil as well.( I just tear up the leaves into smaller pieces but you can add them as is as well )
In the end add the cream and cook.
If you feel you need more paprika to make it spicy or more rosemary it’s entirely up to you. The Chorizo is spicy so you might want to go easy on the paprika.
Add the pasta to the sauce, add some grated Parmesan cheese and serve hot.
Notes –
I like to cook my pasta and sauce simultaneously. Which means the pasta water comes to a boil and then I add the pasta and cook it as per instructions on the packet. While this is happening I make the sauce. If you can’t multi task its ok, make the sauce FIRST and then the pasta. You can always re heat the sauce.
Cook the pasta in drinking water because once it’s done add a spoon full of two of the starchy water to your sauce, it adds flavour.
If you like cook the pasta al dente and then remove it and drain when it’s almost cooked , not entirely cooked and give it another 5 minutes to cook in the sauce on the stove.
Once you drain the pasta please rinse it in cool water so that it doesn’t congeal and stick. Even though it’s off the stove it’s so hot it tends to cook with its own heat and stick to each other.
You don’t have to use Chorizo, can be any meat or even veggie and follow the same method.
I usually never use cream in my pasta because its fattening so if you want to skip the cream you can, just make sure the tomatoes are mashed enough or pureed enough so it is a thick paste and not just lumps.
Ah… now I wonder why I did not became a food blogger… any ways too late now with Tiny around I have no scope… 🙂
Hahahaha Thanks Prasad 🙂
Here, for a change, is a recipe
Made in stages by our Triple T
But in a highlighted aside
Which filled her with pride
Meeting the author — that filled her with glee!