Jameses.org

Following on from my friend Gally’s sporadic desire to publish recipes on his blog, I thought I would divulge the secret of my wonderful chorizo pasta. You will need…
1 Chorizo

1 Sizeable onion

Garlic (according to desire), likewise with chillies.

Tonnes of mushrooms

Black olives (not Kalamata), pitted and sliced

1 large tin of diced tomatoes

A handful of fresh tomatoes.

Half a capsicum

Fresh herbs (a smattering of basil and oregano should suffice)

300g of nice (egg) pasta - why wreck the perfect pasta?.

And around 22 minutes.

In a dash of olive oil, cook the chorizo whole for a few minutes on a medium heat. Chop your onions, garlic and chilli whilst it is blattering away. Chuck these into the frying pan, turn up the heat and remove the chorizo. Chop the chorizo into smallish pieces and chuck it back into the mix. Whilst you are waiting for your onions to soften and golden, chop up your tomatoes and capsicum (I like to do the capsicum in long thin strands and the tomato in thin-ish semi-circles).

Add the tin of tomatoes and herbs, stir and turn the heat back to medium. Add your olives and wait for a minute or two, perhaps boiling the kettle or plotting the downfall of your nemesis. Add your tomatoes, mushrooms and capsicum (you could even add a handful of grated carrot for something different.

Start cooking your pasta with a pinch of salt and a fraction (smaller than 3/43) of oil.

Let the magic of heat do the rest whilst you try and remember the relevance of a Mersenne prime number, wash some dishes and mentally prepare yourself for the post-dinner administration of a foot massage to your fortunate other. Keep an eye on your sauce and taste it for chilliosity, flavour and consistency - sometimes a dollop of leggo rights the imbalance immediately.
When the pasta is to your liking, add it to the sauce and stir through thoroughly.

Garnish with parmesan and italian parsley. Goes well with a Cabernet Merlot and Tracy Chapman’s first album (self-titled).