Man Meal Of The Week: Chorizo Pasta

I’ve become a frequent visitor of the food market at Melrose Arch in Joburg – there is this fabulous Polish lady who sells the best cured meats. I bought gorgeous pancetta and Polish sausage (you can use some Chorizo), which is perfect to add in some pasta. This is the perfect Sunday night dish, easy to make and tastes amazing, a great way to end the weekend.

A little tip, if you don’t eat meat, leave out the sausage, it tastes just as good.

INGREDIENTS

Olive oil
Sea salt
Black pepper
2 brown onions. sliced
1 large carrot, cut into quarters
4 garlic cloves, crushed
2 red chillies, chopped
1 heaped tsp xylitol/sugar
1 sachet tomato puree
250 ml good white wine
250 ml chicken stock
1 bay leaf
2 tins of whole Italian tomatoes
250 g polish sausage or chorizo
1 sprig of fresh sage
1 punnet asparagus tips
1/2 a packet of wild rocket
250 g spaghetti

METHOD
Serves 4-5
Preparation: 20 minutes
Cooking time: 1 hour

On a plastic chopping board slice the onions and quarter the carrots. Place a casserole dish on high-heat and add 2 tablespoons of olive oil. When the oil has heated up add the onions, carrots and crushed garlic. Fry for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally (be careful not to over stir as this prohibits the frying process). After the veggies have been cooking for 5 minutes, add a splash of water to stop it from burning, add a pinch of sea salt, black pepper and the sugar. Fry for another 5 minutes.

Once sediment has formed at the bottom of the dish, add the tomato puree and fry for 1 minute, then add the wine and reduce (this will take another minute). Once the wine has reduced add the chicken stock and the bay leaf and reduce for another minute. Then add the tinned tomatoes, season with salt and pepper. Turn down the heat, cover and simmer for an hour, stirring occasionally.

Slice the sausage into small disks, wash the asparagus and boil the kettle. Place a griddle pan on high-heat and a large pot filled with boiling water and a large pinch of salt. Cook the spaghetti according to packet instructions.

Once the griddle pan is piping hot fry the sausage until slightly coloured, ± 5 minutes, run the fresh sage under boiling water and add it to the griddle pan. Once the sausage is cooked, add it to the cooked pasta sauce and stir. Keep the griddle pan on high-heat and add the asparagus and a drizzle of olive oil and a pinch of salt, fry for 3 minutes.

Before you drain the pasta, pour some of the pasta water into a mug, add half of the water to the pasta sauce. Then add the cooked spaghetti to the sauce, mix thoroughly. Then add the fresh rocket, drizzle with a bit of olive oil and mix.

To serve divide the pasta into seperate dishes top with the grilled asparagus and enjoy.