You can use any type of pasta for this sauce but a typical rule I go by is:
a) Fettuccine/Tagliatelle and longer types of pasta when you have bigger pieces of meat/veggies and a rich sauce
b) Penne/Orzo/Fusilli/Orecchiette when you have smaller pieces of meat/veggies – I generally go with option ‘b)’ when I don’t have much veggies at home or not enough chorizo, this way it wraps into the pasta making it more flavourful.
So depending on your mood + what you have at home, just alter this recipe to your needs.
Ingredients
- Type of pasta – I used a mix of plain and spinach fettuccine
- 2 chorizo sausages
- 2 big white onions (or 3-4 smaller ones)
- Handful of mushrooms of your choice (inc. exotic mushrooms if you have any)
- 1 red capsicum (also called bell peppers)
- Cherry tomatoes (cooked separate to the sauce)
- 1 large tomato (for the sauce)
- Pasta sauce or 1 can of diced tomato sauce
- 1 to 2 glasses of water
- Herbs (optional)
- Oil of your choice
Method
Roast the cherry tomatoes first so they cook while you make the sauce
1. Combine the cherry tomatoes, oregano and olive oil together in a bowl and place in the oven at 180 degrees C (356 F). These will roast while you make the rest of the sauce
Pasta – cook as per the instructions on the packet
Sauce
Chorizo Prep: Take the casing off the sausage and break it up into small pieces with your hands. I like to mince it as small.
Veggies Prep: Cut everything into small dices, mushrooms can be bigger as they shrivel up.
- On a medium to high flame, add two to three tablespoons of oil. Add in onions and stir on a high flame and then reduce the flame to low, this way the onions can cook our for 5-10 minutes without burning.
- Once the onions are translucent with a tad golden brown colour, add in your minced up chorizo and cook for another 5-10 minutes depending on the size of the meat.
- Once the chorizo looks cooked, add in your mushrooms and red capsicums, cooking on a low heat for another 5-10 minutes. (Optional: Add in any herbs of your choice, because this is a meat sauce I don’t really add in oregano or rosemary but I have in the past and it still tastes great)
- Once everything looks cooked add in your pasta sauce (or can of tinned tomatoes etc.), preferably plain or with basil to the mixture. Stir well and then add 1 to 2 glasses of water. The water varies depending on how long you want to cook your sauce. Adding water breaks down the sauce and allows it to thicken with new flavours, giving it a richer taste. Do not skip adding water, if you’re running low on time just add less.
- I like to cook the sauce for 20 minutes or longer if I have time, just adding more water if it thickens up too quickly.
- Add in the diced tomato 5 minutes before you want to take the sauce off, and add the roasted cherry tomatoes 2 minutes before you take the sauce off. The tomatoes give it a fresh taste, breaking through the rich sauce.
Tip: you know the sauce is done when you can see oil come over the sauce towards the end, all the extra oil generally floats to the top. - Add in the cooked pasta with 1 spoon of the pasta sauce to help bind it all together
Optional: Top with basil and parmesan cheese – I generally don’t have these on hand so I don’t bother but if you do…why not?
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