We Love Cooking!:
chorizo

It's definitely a sign you had a fairly packed weekend when you only start to relax on a Monday morning! I was working on Friday, Saturday and Sunday but Saturday night was the big occasion, 25 family members, young and old packed into my parents front room to eat their way through a three course meal and celebrate my grandparents 60th wedding anniversary.

They are my grandparents on my moms side of the family, they married in 1950 and made a living as sculptors, all the while raising my mom and her 3 brothers and 3 sisters. My grandmother has a fantastic knowledge of food and I can talk with her for hours about her delicious rich recipes (if we can steal a moment away from my granddad's well trained 3rd degree questioning skills!) which always seem to transform some extremely unique off cut of meat into a melt in your mouth, one pot wonder. I love how she can tell me she had nothing in the house, yet then go into intricate detail of how she whipped up an old French recipe so delicious it would put the great Elizabeth David to shame. Needless to say that love of food has been passed down the line, so the food at gathering such as this are normally of a certain standard! Anything less of course and you can expect a full critique by the time the coffee and teas are served!

On the menu was a delicious crab salad with lemon zest, for mains we had hefty portions of slow roasted lamb shanks in red wine with a tomato and white bean stew, and to wrap things up we had the delicious mocha meringues with whiskey cream, chocolate sauce and toasted hazelnuts which we cooked for the event in Paris during the spring. All this was followed by an amazing cheeseboard from Sheridans Cheesemongers which despite the big helpings for dinner was devoured!
So things are back to normality this week thankfully so here's today's recipe, enjoy!

Whoohaa Chorizo Bean Pasta!
Pasta is definitely a super-cheap store cupboard ingredient which can easily be transformed into hundreds of delicious dishes. This is one of my favourite ways of making the most of it. When making a tomato sauce, the key to getting the best flavour out of it is to cook it slowly. I love to add a good glug of red wine while it reduces to bring out a really great richness. The chorizo gives the dish a kick of heat and will leave you feeling full.

Serves four
150g chorizo, sliced in thick discs
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 red onion, finely chopped
400g tin chopped tomatoes
1 tsp dried oregano
Sea salt and ground black pepper to season
400g tin cannellini beans
250g penne pasta
Parmesan cheese, to serve

Heat a large frying pan over a high heat and throw in the sliced chorizo. Fry on both sides until roaring red and sizzling. Remove from the pan and set aside. You should be left with a rich red oil in the pan.
Place the pan back over the heat, add the garlic and onions and fry for two to three minutes until the onions are soft.
Add the chopped tomatoes and dried oregano, then half fill the empty chopped tomatoes tin with warm water and stir into the pan (if you have red wine it would be great here instead of the water). Bring the sauce to the boil then reduce the heat and simmer for 15-20 minutes until it has reduced a little.
While the sauce is reducing, cook the pasta according to the instructions on the packet, drain and set aside.
Stir the chorizo and cannellini beans into the tomato sauce until everything is warmed through.
Add the sauce to the cooked pasta and stir through.
Serve with a good grating of Parmesan cheese.

I'm in Spain on holidays this week for a few days to soak up as much sun as possible, after finally delivering all the recipes for my new book. One of my favourite things to do when I visit other countries is to create dishes inspired by some of the dishes I sample on my travels. Spanish food uses a great selection of distinctive ingredients to make up some of its well known cuisine, including smokey paprika, cured hams and one of my favourites, chorizo sausage. I have been driving everyone with me mad, because everytime we pass rolling fields full of produce, I insist we pull in to inspect the bright yellow lemons or the big fat melons which are ready to be pulled from their stalks. We have been doing a lot of al fresco eating and this is one of the recipes we had for lunch during the week.

Spanish Fried Eggs with Chorizo and Potato Hash
If you wanted to serve this chorizo and potato hash as a little tapas style dish, simply leave out the egg. This recipe would also make a hearty breakfast!

Serves 4
6 medium sized potatoes
150g of chorizo sausage, cut into bitesize chunks
1 onion, chopped
Juice of 1/2 lemon
Sea salt and ground black pepper
4 eggs

Place the potatoes into a pot of boiling water and simmer for 15 minutes or until tender when pierced with a fork. Drain and place in a bowl of cold water until cool, drain again, slice into chunks and set aside.
Heat a frying pan over a high heat and add in the chorizo, frying until sizzling and bright red. The chorizo should render out a rich red oil which you can fry the potatoes and onions in.
Remove the chorizo from the pan and set aside on a plate.
Fry the onion in the pan in the chorizo oil for 3-4 minutes until soft. Remove from the pan and set aside with the chorizo.
Add in the potatoes and fry for 5-6 minutes or until crisp and golden. You may need to add a drop of oil into the pan if you don't have enough.
Add the onions and chorizo back into the pan, add a squeeze of lemon juice and season with sea salt and ground black pepper.
Remove the hash from the pan and place in a serving plate.
Add another drop of oil to the pan and fry the eggs until the white has set but the yolk is still soft and runny.
Serve the eggs on top of the hash and dig in!

I do have to apologise for another chorizo recipe but I think it may just be my current food addiction. Hopefully there won't be too many complaints! While I was in London recording episodes for Market Kitchen down at the Borough Market a few weeks ago, there was an amazing little Spanish food shop called Brindisa which was selling all different types of chorizo and an amazing selection of fantastic, high quality Spanish ingredients. Myself and Leonie, the amazing Market Kitchen home economist, picked up some and we actually used it in one of the dishes I cooked on camera.

Brinidisa also had the coolest little stall just beside where we were filming, where there was two busy stall holders with a massive hot plate frying up thick pieces of chorizo for the funkiest sambos I have ever seen. I later learned, after a quick google, that these little babies are famous right the way around the world, with mentions in many travel guides from Japan to Australia!

Brindisa Chorizo and Rocket Sandwiches
Isn't it amazing that some of the most tasty dishes are always the easiest. This recipe is hardly a recipe really, it's a case of assembly when you get down to it. Do try and get your hands on some good quality chorizo from a speciality Spanish food shop if you can, it makes all the difference in taste!

Serves 2
4 good quality fresh chorizo sausages, halved
2 roasted piquillo peppers, sliced
2 large handfuls of rocket leaves
2 ciabatta, lightly toasted
A good drizzle of olive oil
A splash of balsamic vinegar
A good pinch of sea salt and crushed black peppercorns

In a large hot frying pan, fry the chorizo halves until roaring red and sizzling on both sides.
Toast the ciabatta halves and slice in half.
Toss the rocket leaves in a little olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Season with a little sea salt and black pepper.
Assemble the sandwich, place the chorizo on the ciabatta, add a few thick slices of roasted peppers, and some dressed rocket leaves.
Devour immediately!

Looking for a quick "hands on" starter dish which comes packed with a punch? Well I'm pretty sure these quesadillas fit the bill! I am completely addicted to chorizo, it's full of great smokey spiced flavour, has a fantastic, rich, deep red colour and adds so much to any dish you use it in. I love using chorizo in hearty bean stews for a more wintery dish, but it will forever and for always remind me of summer. I first tasted it on a holiday in Spain as part of a tapas dish and was hooked forever more!

Chorizo and Spring Onion Quesadillas
You can get chorizo in fine soft slices or in thick sausage form which I use in this recipe. If you are really stuck and can't get your hands on some chorizo for this recipe, don't panic, you can use a little leftover cooked chicken or some sliced cooked ham as a substitute. The great thing about quesadillas is that you can really adapt them to what you have, the classic ones I normally make are with some salsa, cheese and thinly sliced red onion, simple and delicious!

Serves 2
150g of chorizo, sliced in bite size chunky rounds
1 clove of garlic, finely minced
A small handful of cherry tomatoes, finely chopped
4 wholewheat tortilla wraps
A bunch of spring onions, sliced finely
A small handful of grated cheddar cheese
Sea salt and black pepper to season

Heat a large frying pan over a high heat and cook the chorizo on both sides until sizzling and roaring red. When it's cooked, remove from the pan and place on a plate lined with some kitchen paper. Drain a little of the chorizo oil, leaving enough to fry the quesadillas.
While the chorizo is frying off, combine the minced garlic and chopped tomatoes in a bowl and season with a little salt and pepper.
Spread half the tomato and garlic mix on one of the tortilla wraps, top with a little cheese, a generous amount of spring onions, and some of the cooked chorizo. Place another tortilla wrap on top and fry on both sides over a high heat, until the quesadilla is golden brown and the cheese inside has melted. Repeat with the second quesadilla.
Serve the quessdillas sliced in quarters with an extra sprinkle of sliced spring onions, and a little of the leftover tomato and garlic mix.

Pizza was one of the first things I learned to cook when I was a kid, I think it was because the preparation is fairly hands on so it's a perfect starter recipe for younger aspiring cooks! The great thing about homemade pizza is that you can cater for the taste of every person you make it for. This recipes topping is just a suggestion but the same day I made this I made a pizza's with parma ham, goats cheese and peppers, so you can really use whatever takes your fancy.

For the pizza baking session, I had the help of my cousin Harry, who had decided to miss out on his Sunday morning rugby practice to make pizza. I don't know about you but I would obviously have made the same decision! His favourite part was getting to punch down the dough!

Chorizo and Mushroom Thin Crust Pizza

This dough creates a wonderfully, thin, crisp yet still chewy dough which ticks all the boxes for me! You can easily freeze the dough after it has finished rising, punch down, and pop in a freezer bag. Take it out the day before you plan to use it and allow to it to defrost in the fridge.

Makes 3-4 thin bases
255g of flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
175ml of very warm water
1 x 7.5g sachet of active dried yeast
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

For the topping
About 3 tablespoons of tomato sauce per pizza
175g of mozzarella
100g of chorizo, sliced thinly
1 large mushroom per pizza, sliced thinly

Combine the water, sugar, and yeast in a measuring jug. Set aside in a warm place in the kitchen for about 10-15 minutes or until it becomes frothy.
In a large mixing bowl, combine the flour and salt.
When the yeast and water mixture has become frothy stir through the olive oil.
Make a well in the flour and pour in the yeast and water mixture, using your fingers slowly combine the flour in from the sides and continue to mix until a rough dough forms.
Turn the dough out on a floured surface and knead for about 5 minutes. If the dough is too sticky add a little extra flour until it becomes smooth. Form the dough into a ball and turn in an oiled bowl. Cover with a damp tea towel and set in a warm spot for about 45 minutes or until it has doubled in size.
Punch the dough down, knead again for a minute and place back in the bowl to rise for an additional 10 minutes.
Split the dough into 3-4 pieces and roll out as thin as possible. Flour a baking sheet and transfer the pizza base to it. Spread the base with the tomato sauce, sprinkle with mozzarella, chorizo slices and mushroom pieces.
Bake in the oven for 10-15 minutes at 200C/Gas Mark 6 or until the cheese turns golden and the crust becomes crisp.
Serve straightaway!

There are things in this world that excite me, things which in many ways do not excite the majority of the rest of world. One of these little things happened the other day while I was on a walk around the cliffs in Howth- I came across a kind of mini crate sitting right in the middle of my path. Now you see to a normal person, this would just be a bit of wood and they would casually pass by without thinking twice. Not me though, I was turning it over inspecting the cracks, the colours and the rusty nails! I'm not crazy I swear! It's just I have a little bit of an obsession with photography props and this perfectly formed little piece wood makes an ideal platform to shoot food pictures upon. I dragged the mini crate home, despite objections from Sofie, and as you can see from the photo's here I think you'll agree it was well worth it- it gives a great rustic feel to the shots!

Warm Chorizo, Red Onion and Baby Potato Salad
I'm totally in love with this dish at the moment, its a perfect summer garden dinner. I normally just serve this as a side dish but you can beef it up by adding a few eggs to the dish and baking them until cooked. I can't tell you tell you just how tasty this little recipe is, you will just have to try it!

Serves 4
Approximately 16 baby potatoes.
300g of chorizo.
2 red onions, finely sliced.
Juice of 1/2 lemon.
A good pinch of sea salt and freshly ground black pepper.

Add the potatoes to a pot and cover with water. Place over a high heat and bring to the boil, reduce the heat and simmer for about 10-12 minutes, or until the potatoes are soft when poked with a fork. Remove from the heat and drain. Place a large frying pan over and medium high heat and add the chorizo, you shouldn't need any oil. Fry the chorizo slices for 2-3 minutes until they are really red and crispy. Remove the pan from the heat and squeeze over the juice of half a lemon. With the back of a fork or a whisk, combine the chorizo and lemon juices. Add the red onion to the pan and stir through. Finally chop the potatoes into bitesize pieces and add to the pan gently tossing so that all the ingredients are combined. Season with sea salt and black pepper and serve warm as a tasty side dish.