I usually make a pasta dish once a week, given that they can be quick and comforting. It can be easy to get into a rut so I try to make something different as often as I can. The problem is that I love a tomato based pasta sauce like this simple one but himself loves a creamy sauce like my Creamy Mushroom Pasta. I had a delicious bowl of pasta in Ferrit & Lee last year and decided to try to adapt a recipe from that. This Chorizo and Mushroom Pasta is based on that dish. I debated whether to post another creamy pasta sauce but it is quite different in flavour from others I have made so I went with it.

I hope you like it as much as I do!

 

Useful tips & links:

• This recipe is so adaptable, I think the original dish had bacon in it. Play around with different flavours.
• I like thick long pasta shapes for sauces like this, they just coat the pasta. The pasta used here was egg fettuccine, so this also means that it has a lovely yellow colour. Tagliatelle would also work well or even penne pasta.
• I usually add wine to deglaze the pan in these dishes but here I wanted to keep the sauce light as there is so much flavour in the chorizo and mushrooms. Feel free to add wine if you like.
• I always make more than needed for these dishes so then I have leftovers to take for lunch the next day.
• For a vegetarian pasta dish have a look at my Pasta Alla Norma. For another chorizo recipe see Cathal’s Creamy Tomato and Chorizo Pasta Bake on Bumbles of Rice.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chorizo and Mushroom Pasta

Serves 3

 

Ingredients:

• 100g of chorizo, sliced
• Oil
• A small onion, finely diced
• 100g of mushrooms, sliced
• 1 clove of garlic, peeled and crushed
• Salt and pepper
• 1 teaspoon of dried oregano
• 200ml of hot chicken stock
• 200ml of crème fraiche
• A large handful of spinach
• 25g of freshly grated parmesan
• A good squeeze of lemon juice
• 250g of pasta

 

Method:

• Heat a large non-stick pan over a medium heat and fry the chorizo just until it releases it’s gorgeous orange oil. Remove the chorizo and set it to one side. Leave the oil in the pan and add a little more if you think you need it.
• Slowly fry the onion in the chorizo oil until soft. Add in the chopped mushrooms and fry until cooked.
• Season the onions and mushrooms with a little salt and pepper and the oregano and then add the crushed garlic. Cook for another couple of minutes.
• Pour in the stock, crème fraiche, parmesan and spinach and simmer gently over a low heat, the spinach will wilt down completely. Meanwhile, cook the pasta as per packet instructions.
• Return the chorizo to the sauce and squeeze in some lemon juice. Taste for seasoning and add more salt or pepper as needed.
• Drain the cooked pasta and stir it through the sauce. Plate it immediately and top with a little more parmesan and black pepper.
• Serve with a simple side salad with tomatoes to cut through the creamy sauce.