PASTA WITH TOMATOES AND CHORIZO

Good Morning to you,

Do you remember, last week, I mentioned that I am an avid, Strictly Come Dancing fan. 

Watching Strictly, certainly brings my happy gene to the foreground. I love the sultriness of the Latin dances and the elegance of the ballroom dances.  I love all the beautiful dresses, which are worn by the dancers and of course I enjoy the music.

I have always enjoyed dancing, I remember as a teenager dancing the 'Twist' and then the 'Shake' and many other dances which I now, cannot remember their names, to meeting George and learning how to jive. 

Time moved on and I learnt how to waltz and then I learnt how to line dance and that was such a funny experience, as it did not turn out as I had expected.  I thought as I was quite adept at moving my feet, line dancing would be a piece of cake and I would catch on in no time. But learning how to line dance, reminded me of when I was learning how to drive a car. 

When I began learning to drive, it felt as if there were far too many pedals for my feet to cope with, not only pedals, but a gear stick to think about as well..... I felt like my feet were dancing not sure whether to press the clutch, the brake or the accelerator.... and then the gear stick, how could I press the clutch, change gear and watch the road at the same time. Of course as with all things, it suddenly all fell into place.

..... and when I was learning how to line dance, my brain went through the same experience. My brain just would not tell my feet what to do.  Week after week I went to classes, the feet continued to mis-behave, but I was determined to persevere and then one day, out of the blue and without warning, the brain managed to communicate with my feet... yes suddenly, I could dance the steps. I was ecstatic, not only had I mastered, what I saw as complicated steps, but in actual fact were easy steps, but even the complicated steps began to make sense.

..... Oh yes, I know a 'kick ball change' when I see one.

Actually the dish I am making today is a meal I always use to have when I returned home from zumba or line dancing..... sometimes I thought I should have eaten it before, to give me more energy. Notice I say used to.  Zumba was fabulous, but the exercises became a little too aerobic for me, too much jumping and the line dancing, unfortunatley there is not a class close by..... but with or without a zumba or line dancing class, I know you will enjoy,

pasta with roasted tomatoes and chorizo.  Doesn't it look inviting, with all the lovely bright colours.  I have roasted the tomatoes, so when you bite into a piece of pasta and a slice of chorizo then add a small roasted tomato, the sweetness of the tomato just bursts in your mouth.

So it is on with the pinnie and the music I am listening to is,

the absolutely fabulous voice of Peggy Lee.  Listen to,

'When My Sugar Walks Down the Street'

and

'Just in Time'

also

'What a Little Moonlight Can Do'

and you will love her voice as well.  In fact you will probably know all Peggy's music.  I love listening to Peggy, in the evening, when the shutters are closed, the lights are on and the candles are lit..... and me, I am pottering around the kitchen just enjoying Peggy's voice.... well of course singing to the odd song or two... well maybe three.

So whilst Peggy is singing 'Just in Time' it is time for me to organise my ingredients.

INGREDIENTS

TO

MAKE

PASTA 

WITH TOMATOES AND CHORIZO

250g fresh baby tomatoes

100g Chorizo

3 tablespoons of olive oil

1 large onion

2 cloves of garlic

1 teaspoon of dried oregano

200g Cavatappi pasta

125g fresh spinach

5 or 6 shavings of Parmesan Cheese

Pre-heat the oven to 180C

HOW TO

MAKE

PASTA

WITH TOMATOES AND CHORIZO

Cut the tomatoes

in half

and

remove the stem.

Brush a baking tray

with

olive oil

and arrange the tomatoes,

cut side up, on the baking tray.

Place in the oven

and

bake 

for 45 minutes

or until the tomatoes

have reduced in size

and the plumpness has disappeared.

When the tomatoes have been roasting

for 25 minutes,

bring a pan of salted water

to the boil

and 

cook the Cavatappi pasta

as per 

the manufacturer's instructions.

Whilst the pasta is cooking,

peel and finely slice

the onion.

Add

2 tablespoons of olive oil to a wide pan

and slowly cook the onions

until they are golden brown.

Peel

and

grate the garlic.

Just before the onions are browned,

add the grated garlic to the pan

and

the dried oregano

and

cook for a couple of minutes.

Slice the chorizo

and 

add to the pan

and cook for  3 minutes.

Drain the pasta,

but reserve a couple of tablespoons

of cooking liquid.

Place the drained pasta

 into the pan with the onions and chorizo

and toss.

Add the reserved cooking liquid

to the pan

and 

toss again.

Wash the spinach

and add to the pan.

Don't worry, if it looks like there

is far too much spinach

as the spinach

will wilt.

Place a lid on the pan

and place the pan on a very low

heat for a few minutes

as this will allow the spinach

to wilt.

If the spinach has not wilted enough

for you, leave the pan on the heat for a little longer.

Season the pasta with

sea salt

and

freshly ground black pepper.

Sprinkle a little sea salt

on the roasted tomatoes.

Place the pasta, chorizo and spinach

in a dish

and

add

some of the roasted tomatoes.

Finally add

some shavings of 

Parmesan Cheese.

Believe me when 

I say,

you will thoroughly 

enjoy your supper

and

no,

it is not a prerequisite

to

 take a zumba class

or a line dancing class

to enjoy 

this dish of pasta

with

tomatoes and chorizo

You will have noticed that I used sliced chorizo, that is because I had some slices in the fridge which I wanted to use.... often I will use chorizo sausage, cut up into small cubes.  It really is whatever there is to hand.

I also added a few more leaves of spinach to the final dish because as I was taking time to photograph the final dish, the spinach wilted a little too much for my taste. 

Oh yes, just a thought, as you know I dry my own oregano, so the flavour tends to be much more intense than shop bought jars of oregano, so if you are using shop bought oregano, add 1 tablespoon to the dish instead of 1 teaspoon.

So take care and I will see you on Wednesday.