Chorizo Skillet Supper

This recipe showcases Capellini pasta.    Capellini is not something which I have had a very easy time finding here in the UK actually.

Capellini, or angel hair pasta traditionally cooks in a fraction of the time as regular pastas.  I decided to do an all in one pan dish, with the pasta actually cooking in the sauce.  I thought Capellini would be perfect for this because of it's shorter cooking time.

I used fresh chorizo sausage, which was easily crumbled and gave the sauce a bit of a kick.  Feel free to use the dried version as well.  Both are good.

Some tinned chopped tomatoes, a tin of drained borlotti beans, some frozen peas along with onion, garlic and stock and I had a very delicious entree indeed, and all in one pan.

I like it when I can cut back on the washing up don't you???   All in all it made for a lovely and fairly quick supper.  A scattering of grated cheddar on top and we were good to go.  The pasta worked very well and the whole dish was very tasty and colourful.  A pleaser all round!

*Chorizo Skillet Supper*

Serves 6 to 8

Printable Recipe 

A quick and simple supper that is not only easy to make but quite, quite delicious! 

1/2 pound chorizo sausage, cut into 1/2 inch pieces if it is the dried chorizo, skins removed and crumbled if it is the raw sausage like chorizo

1 TBS olive oil

340g of capellini pasta (12 ounces angel hair) or thin spaghetti, broken in half

1 medium onion, peeled and finely chopped

4 cloves of fresh garlic, peeled and finely chopped (or to taste)

1 (400g) tin of beans (black bean preferred, or your favourite will do) drained and rinsed.  (15 1/2ounces)

1 (400g) tin of chopped tomatoes in juice, undrained (14.5 ounces)

675ml of chicken stock (3 cups)

1 TBS dried oregano

a coffee mug of frozen petit pois

120g of grated strong cheddar cheese (1 cup)

fine sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste 

Heat a large skillet over medium high heat.  Add the oil.  Heat and then crumble in the chorizo.  Cook for 3 to five minutes, until golden Scoop out and set aside.  Reduce the heat to medium.   Add the pasta and cook in the drippings for 2 to 3 minutes or until the pasta begins to toast.   Remove and set aside with the sausage.  Add the onions and garlic to the drippings.  Cook for 2 to 3 minutes, until beginning to soften and very fragrant.  Add the tomatoes, chicken stock and oregano.  Return the  pasta and sausage to the pan.   Stir to combine.  Reduce the heat to a simmer, cover and cook for 8 to ten minutes, until the pasta is cooked and most of the liquid has been absorbed.  Stir in the frozen peas and heat through.   Season to taste.  Sprinkle with the cheese and serve immediately.

Sausage Deliciousness

I was recently contacted and asked if I would like to try out some sausages.   HECK is a  company owned by the Keebles who are a family of farmers and sausage enthusiasts.  They produce a range osf 8 differen premium sausage varieties ranging from the traditional 97% pork to the more unique Chicken and square sausages.  They also produce several gluten free varieties.  You can read more about how they produce their sausages here. 

We really love sausages in this house!  Not the cheap nasty ones out there that are yuck, yuck, yuck . . . we are a bit more discerning in our tastes and those cheap and nasty ones just have a horrible consistency  and are loaded with fat.  We do NOT like those . . . so we are always up for trying something which is better.  Getting to try new things is the best part of my job!

These are farmers market quality.  It can't be bad and with Christmas coming up with all of the entertaining that entails, we were absolutely up for trying these sausages.



One package which was sent was their Smoky Chorizo-style sausages.  Hearty and tangy with a smoked paprika kick.  Gluten Free. (nice!)

 

These had a really lovely flavour.  Nice colour.  Nice texture and just enough heat, and a lingering afterburn . . . without it being overpowering in the least.  Most pleasant.  We quite enjoyed.  I had only ever eaten the dried chorizo sausages that you can buy which come from spain and are pre-cooked.  These were quite nice and I would buy these, absolutely.

Content:  85% British Pork Shoulder Corn Flour, Water Red Peppers (1%) Spices, Salt, Sugar Leek Powder Preservative (Sodium Sulphite) Stabilisers (Diphosphates) Herb Yeast Extract Colour (Paprika Extract) Antioxidant (Ascorbic Acid) Spice Extract. Filled into natural pork casings.



Next up "The Family Favourite."   Good old pork. Comforting, noble and satisfying, this is the original favourite, a classic that’ll never lose its shine.  These are the kind that I would use to make my Christmas Stuffing with or my sausage rolls.  They are also gluten free, which is nice.  Those cheap and nasty things use far too much filler.  I want meat in my sausage, not filler.



Our verdict . . . meaty and moist without being greasy.  Just what you would expect from a good breakfast or supper sausage.



We both enjoyed.

 Content:  85% British Pork Shoulder Corn Flour Water Salt Rice Flour Leek Powder Cream Powder (from Milk) Sugar Spice Yeast Extract Preservative (Sodium Sulphite) Flavourings Natural Flavourings Spice Extracts Citric Acid Antioxidant (Ascorbic Acid). Filled into natural pork casings.



Next . . . the Plump Pork & Apple Sausage.  Pork and apple are made for each other. They are a marriage made in heaven.  The perfect marriage of savoury and sweet . . .  did they live up to their promise?



These were gorgeous.   Not greasy.  Well flavoured.  With just enough of a hint of apple flavour to bring out the best of the pork.  Also gluten free.

Contents:   85% British Pork Shoulder Corn Flour Water Apple Flakes (2%) Salt Rice Flour Leek Powder Cream Powder (from milk) Sugar Spice Yeast Extract Preservative (Sodium Sulphite) Flavourings Natural Flavourings Spice Extracts Citric Acid Antioxidant (Ascorbic Acid). Filled into natural pork casings.



Heck 97% Pork.  These lip smackers were my favourite of them all.  Meaty and well flavoured and lean.  Moist and not greasy.  They were the overall winners with us both.   Once again gluten free.



 Contents: 97% British Pork Shoulder Salt Cream Powder (from Milk) Spices Preservative (Sodium Sulphite) Antioxidant (Ascorbic Acid). Filled into natural pork casings. 

All in all we were very impressed with these sausages, and we would happily buy any of them.  These tasty links are available at supermarkets throughout the country.

Thank you very much to Katy and to Heck Sausages for sending us these to try out.  We now have a new favourite.  Tis true. 

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Some sausage tastiness to get your tastebud juices flowing:

 

Oven Barbequed Sausages 

 

Cider and Honey Braised Sausages  

 

Bean and Sausage Hot Pot
(The chorizo ones would be fab, FAB in this!)



Hawaiin Sausage Casserole  

 

Creamy Mustard Sausage and Pasta Hot Dish 

 

Sausage and Squash Mash 

 

Sausage and Bacon Toad in the Hole 

 

Fruity Sausage Baps   

 

Cherry Tomato and Sausage Bake 

 

Sausage and Corn Bake 

And that's just for starters!  Thank you Heck Sausages!