Pasta with Spanish Chorizo and tomato

Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup Spanish virgin olive oil
• 1 medium-size yellow onion
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1 Spanish chorizo sausage
• 1 tsp Spanish smoked paprika
• 2 whole fresh tomato
• 1/2 lb. dry penne, macaroni or spaghetti noodles

Preparation:

This pasta in chorizo and tomato sauce recipe makes 4 servings.

Note re Spanish Chorizo: This sausage is very different than Mexican or Caribbean chorizo. Spanish chorizo is a firm, dry sausage where most Mexican chorizo is fresh and soft, not cured sausage. It also has different spices than Spanish Chorizo, so it is not a good substitute for this recipe. If you need a substitute, use Portuguese Linguica sausage, which is very similar to Spanish Chorizo and should be easy to find in your local supermarket.

Peel and chop the onion into 1/4-inch chunks. Peel and chop garlic. Remove the seeds and veins from the pepper and chop. Cut chorizo into round slices about 1/4-inch thick.

Pour about half of the olive oil into a large frying pan and heat on medium. Once hot enough, sauté the chorizo slices, pepper, onion and garlic in the pan. Stir often. If necessary, add more olive oil to pan.

Once the onions are translucent, add the can of crushed tomatoes. Sprinkle in the paprika. Stir and cook on medium-low for 10 minutes, careful not to burn the sauce.

While the sauce is simmering, bring water to a rolling boil for pasta in a large pot. Add pasta and cook until al dente – about 10 minutes. Drain pasta.

To serve, add pasta to frying pan and mix together with sauce. If you prefer, plate the pasta, then add sauce on top.