Chorizo & Courgette Pastabake

Chorizo & Courgette Pasta Bake

Well it's been very quiet in the flat with the Houseboy setting off with a spring in his step for a boys weekend in Ibiza, i'm  not anticipating him coming back with the same spring...needless to say i think he may need some nursing. I've hot footed it up North to stay with Mrs Rhodes but have left him some hangover cures in the fridge. The positives of having the place to myself has meant endless 5 USA without feeling guilty, the golf clubs have been banished to the spare room & have all the lamps on. (the Houseboy & i are in opposing lighting camps, while he's happy with one ceiling light on, i love to have a good collection of lamps on. Could be worse things to bicker about i reckon)  

 

It's been a busy old ten days, Monsieur M. my Jesus lookalike uni friend from far away Aberdeen has been on his annual pilgrimage to London, so some sightseeing, museum trips & drinks have been in order. I always love a trip to the V&A,  i dragged him (literally) round the jewelry rooms where i could spend hours staring at Victorian costume jewels. I'm just thankful i didn't have to take him to the science museum-don't get me wrong, science is cool & all that, but only in batches of 20 minutes or so.   

We had another fantastic evening with the Lipchucks who served up the most delicious Lamb dish served with Mashed Potatoes, Aubergines & Tomatoes. They have a great outdoor space for entertaining & its very easy to while away the hours with a glass (or several) of wine on a Sunday evening. I'm still contemplating the returning of the favour-going to have to pick up the pace here! I've been dreaming a lot of Pigs Trotters recently & i am dying to cook some up & make them into fritters, Black Pudding has also been heavily on my mind, although making that from scratch is trickier. 5 pints of pigs blood isn't readily available from Sainsbury.



The New Love In My Life

I recently got a new bike. Its amazing. I was originally advised to go for something lightweight, agile & discreet...i listened (for about ten seconds) but somehow ended up with  baby blue pashely. I've wanted one for so long i couldn't quite believe i was riding it home. My first gumtree purchase & it was successful-despite Mrs Rhodes almost convincing me i was going to end up being murdered & made into sausages after meeting a girl in Clapham flat. So all in all a good choice, even though it weighs a ton, is like driving a tank & pretty noticeable.

So this dish is quick, easy & lovely to have when the weather is rubbish. You can add a variety of different vegetables if you would like, Aubergine, Artichoke, Spinach, most will work. You could even do a bechamel sauce instead of a tomato one-if you fancied.

Ingredients:

• 1 medium onion
• 2 cloves of garlic
• 1 tsp smoked paprika
• 750g passata (essentially one large bottle)
• 5 tbsp of tomato paste
• 1 glass of red wine
• 1 tbsp of sugar

• 110g chirizo
• 1 1/2 courgettes
• hand full of cherry tomatoes
• 250g rigatoni pasta
• 50g of grated cheese (such as chedder, mozzarella, parmesan - what ever is lurking in the fridge)

Method:

Finely chop the onion & the garlic, add to a hot pan with a dash of olive oil along with the paprika, cook for 5 minutes making sure it doesn't burn. Add the passata, tomato paste, red wine & sugar. Leave to simmer for 20-30 minutes.

Meanwhile as the sauce is bubbling away, put the pasta on to cook as per the packet instructions. While the pasta is cooking, slice the chirizo & courgette into fairly chunky pieces. Cook the chirizo until crisp & add the courgette & cook for a further 3 minutes (make sure you don't over cook the courgette as it will cook further in the oven) Set  aside. Drain the pasta well & then mix in the courgette, chirizo, cherry tomatoes & sauce. Place in an oven proof dish, sprinkle with cheese & pop into a preheated oven of 180c - bake for 20minutes. Goes very well with a rocket salad.