CHORIZO & RED WINE SPAGHETTI

Righto, chorizo ragu is my lazy supper superhero. It’s loud, saucy and just the kind of grub that makes you feel like you actually achieved something with dinner, even if you only rocked up to the stove five minutes after realising you’re starving.

It’s Cheap as chips (well, nearly). A packet of chorizo stretches miles because it’s full of flavour, you don’t need expensive cuts of meat or fancy pantry staples.There’s maximum flavour with minimal fuss. Chorizo brings smokiness, spice and salt all at once. It seasons itself, so you don’t spend ages fiddling with herbs and spices. Brown it, let the fat render, add aromatics and tomatoes and the whole kitchen smells like you actually know what you’re doing.

It’s also versatile AF. Toss it with pasta, spoon it over polenta, fold it into beans, use it as taco filling or bung it on nachos. Leftovers reheat like a dream and somehow taste even better the next day.

Little tricks I swear by:

  • Brown the chorizo properly so the edges get a bit crisp, that toasty flavour is money.

  • Don’t skip the onions and garlic. They mellow the sausage’s punch and give the sauce balance.

  • Add a splash of vinegar or a teaspoon of sugar if the tomatoes are too acidic, it brightens and rounds things out.

  • Stretch it out with lentils or canned beans if you need more volume, still tastes like chorizo ragu, just kinder to your wallet.

CHORIZO & RED WINE SPAGHETTI

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CHORIZO & RED WINE SPAGHETTI 〰️

Time: 1 hour + 30 minutes

Serves: 3 - 4

4 large chorizo sausages

2 carrots, peeled

2 celery stalks

1 brown onion

3 garlic cloves

1 tea sp chilli flakes

70gm tomato paste

1 cup red wine

700gm passata

1 small bunch fresh thyme (tied together)

300gm spaghetti

1/2 lemon, juice

Salt, to taste

Pepper, to taste

Olive oil

Grana padana cheese

Start by blitzing. Grab a food processor and add in rough chopped carrot, celery, onion and garlic and blitz until finely diced. Remove and place in bowl to the side. Remove casings of chorizo sausage and add in the meat to food processor and blitz until smooth.

Place heavy large pot on medium high heat with a glug of oil. Once hot, add in pieces of the chorizo sausage and brown one side completely. Once brown using a wooden spoon, mince the chorizo by pushing into the meat into the pot. Mix around until chorizo mince is browned and remove (try to keep the chorizo fat in pot) and leave to the side.

Add blitzed mirepoix into pot and sweat down in chorizo fat on medium heat, add cold water when needed to not colour. After sweating for 10 minutes, add in chilli and tomato paste and cook out for a minute. Add red wine and cook down til half the liquid is gone. Pour in passata and half the passata bottle worth of water. Add in thyme, salt and pepper to taste and the browned chorizo mince. Allow to simmer away slowly for 60-80 minutes, depending how much time you have.

Once time is nearly up on ragu, cook spaghetti in rolling salted boiling water to packets instructions. Remove thyme bund;le from ragu and using the pasta water, add three ladles to the ragu with the lemon juice and mix through. Add cooked spaghetti to ragu and cook over low heat for a minute to bring together.

Season with salt to taste to finish and top with lots of finely grated grana padano.