Chorizo and Pasta

Chorizo and Pasta

Tonight’s meal was a quick and easy dish. I cooked up Spanish chorizo sausages added them to a sauce which was combined with pasta. Quick, easy, delicious.

The sausages were chorizo made by Mariano’s Spanish Goods in Christchurch. This is the third review of sausages made by Mariano in Christchurch. Here in Wellington they are stocked by Moore Wilsons. For butifarra see link, for malaguena see link. In 2010 this sausage was the winner of the artisan awards run by Cuisine Magazine.

 

 

These sausages are made from free range pork. The ingredients are listed as pork, 85%, pork fat 15%, along with salt, paprika, garlic and edible casing. On Mariano’s website he extols the chorizo sausage. The paprika used is Spanish, of course. This is a combination of mild and smoked paprika. Once the pork is minced the spices are added to allow the flavours to meld. The sausage mixture is rested overnight, and the following day the sausages are filled by hand. This sausage has a medium grind and is nice and chunky. These sausages are gluten free and contain no nitrates and additives.

 

 

When these were cooked they oozed quite a bit fat and liquid. I did sample the sausage once cooked, naturally. They had a very pleasant flavour. The heat of paprika is present but does not overpower the meat. They are a spicy sausage that will probably not appeal to all. However, as a chorizo, this is a very good sausage. And for those looking for a sausage with a bit of heat, this fits the bill. A balance is achieved between the spice and meat. In some chorizo sausage it seems that all you can taste is the heat of the paprika.

 

 

I made a quick pasta sauce using fresh basil, ground black pepper, tomatoes and mushrooms. This cooked as the pasta boiled. The chopped up chunks of the chorizo were added to the sauce with fresh parmesan cheese grated over the top.

 

 

A quick, easy and delicious meal.

Cost per packet: $12.95 - five sausages were in the packet.