Spicy Chicken & Chorizo

Don’t you just love the sweet, spicy, punchy flavour of chorizo! For me it is a fridge necessity, as it lasts quite a while and works with a myriad of other ingredients. It is also relatively inexpensive and is readily available nowadays. I always serve this with pasta – preferably tagliatelle or linguine, so it is a bit of a Latin fusion dish, crossing the Med from Spain to Italy. Two much respected cuisines to fuse I think personally! And it works a treat!

This is one of my favourite Friday night meals. It is quick to prepare but has a bit of weekend lusciousness about it. I suggest serving it with a nice glass of a fruity red wine and some garlic bread for a treat. For those non-treat nights, a light mixed salad on the side works very well too.

The recipe is inspired by Rachel Allen’s Chorizo Pasta and it serves two to three people, depending on hunger levels.

Ingredients:

•        1 tbsp. olive oil
•          2 chicken fillets (diced)
•          100g chorizo chopped (I generally remove the skin)
•          1 x 400g tin chopped tomatoes
•          2 - 3 fresh tomatoes (diced)
•          1 medium red onion, chopped into thin semicircles
•          3, 4, 5 (who’s counting?!) cloves of garlic, finely chopped or minced
•          2 red bell peppers cut into strips
•          125g chopped mushrooms
•          ½ to 1 tsp.chilli flakes
•          Salt, pepper and 1-2 tsp. sugar to taste
•          A good sprig of finely chopped fresh rosemary
•        125ml of cream
•          200-300g pasta of your choice
•          A good grating of a  hard cheese, e.g. Parmesan or Mature Cheddar

Method:

1. Heat the olive oil in a large frying pan on a medium-high heat.
2. Add the onion, garlic and chorizo with a sprinkle of salt and cook until slightly golden and the chorizo has released plenty of its own oil.
3. Add the red bell peppers and mushrooms and allow to fry gently for a further couple of minutes.
4. Stir through the chopped and fresh tomatoes, along with the rosemary, chilli flakes, sugar and pepper.
5. Add the diced chicken, stir around for a few moments, and then turn the heat down to low.
6. Taste at this point and adjust the level of heat and seasoning to your liking.
7. Allow to simmer for about ten minutes.
8. Meanwhile, put boiling water, along with a pinch of salt into a large saucepan and begin to cook the pasta to “al dente”.
9. Just before the pasta is ready to serve, stir the cream through the chicken and chorizo sauce, which altogether changes the texture and colour of the dish.
10. Divide out the pasta and spoon the chicken and chorizo sauce on top. Cheese it up, then sit back, eat up and enjoy!