🥘 Carole’s chorizo and broccoli pasta…

🥘 1   🍽 Serves 4   🛒 9 ingredients €5  ⏱ 25 minutes

Mid July at a beachside restaurant in Valencia, the sun was high and just a few wispy clouds dotted on the sky which merged seamlessly into the deep blue mediterranean sea.

All set for for a paella, I spotted a delicious pasta dish on the menu del dia and it was superb. After several attempts trying to recreate the dish at home, I’m happy with this effort.

Ingredients:

• 400g penne
• small head of broccoli, broken into small florets
• 200g chorizo, sliced
• 200g streaky bacon
• 1 garlic clove, crushed
• 200g mushrooms, chopped if large
• 1 tbsp fennel seeds (optional)
• 1 tin cherry tomatoes
• basil leaves, to serve

These are both ideal chorizo to use in pasta. In this recipe we used the Dulce because we like the sweet paprika flavour. The Smoked chorizo also works well if you prefer a smoky flavour.

Step by step:

1. Cook the penne following pack instructions, adding the broccoli for the final 3 mins. When cooked, drain, reserving a splash of the cooking water.
2. Meanwhile, fry off the bacon in a large dry frying pan until it’s starting to brown. Remove it from the pan and set aside on kitchen towel. Wipe the pan clean with kitchen towel and fry off chorizo until it starts to turn golden and release its oils. Add the garlic and fennel seeds (if using), and cook for 1 min more.
3. Add the mushrooms and tomatoes and cook for 2-3 minutes, stirring gently. Add back the fried bacon and stir to combine.
4. When the penne is cooked, tip it into the pan with the chorizo.
5. Serve in bowls, scattered with a few basil leaves and a good drizzle of best olive oil.

Notes:

• Steam your broccoli florets in a separate saucepan if you wish. Personally, I think there’s no gain and only extra washing up.
• I like to fry the bacon and remove it, before adding and frying off the chorizo. It keeps the flavours of bacon and chorizo separate which adds to the overall flavour of the dish.
• Tinned cherry tomatoes work really well and they produce a lovely sauce. Add a quick squeeze of tomato puree if you want an even richer sauce.
• Chorizo is one of my favourite ingredients. The paprika and oil that oozes from the meat as it cooks is perfect for pasta
• We have used penne but rigatoni is also a good option. Any pasta tastes delicious if you like chorizo, bacon, mushroom and tomatoes in a paprika flavoured sauce.