PASTA WITH CHORIZO

11/8/2013

What a hectic weekend it has been.   I loved these long weekend  as it gave me so much time to try out recipes which I have bookmarked.

It was also time to get the pasta machine which had been collecting dust from the shelf to work. 

  

Making  fresh pasta: the ratio: 100 gm of the pasta flour to 1 egg and 1 tbsp of olive oil.
Rest the dough for 1/2 hour.  Rolling out the fresh pasta sheets.

Drying the fresh pasta - no proper place so just drape them over the rails. You only need to rest them for 10 minutes otherwise if they are too dry they will break during cooking.

Spanish Chorizo - gift from my sister May, Melbourne.  I only use one.

 Charred bell peppers - I just loved the flavour of these roasted peppers. When cool enough to handle, just wash away the charred skin and remove the seeds and julienned them.

The rest of ingredients: sliced garlic and chili flakes.

Pan fry the chorizo till it render out some of  the oil. Dish up and set aside.
Meanwhile start boiling the fresh pasta. It only needs less than 5 minutes to cook.

Into the same pan, add more olive oil, garlic and roasted peppers. Return the chorizo to pan and add drained pasta. Toss well and lastly add the chili flakes. Adjust seasoning to taste. 

This "tong sui"  was the dessert that I served with the  pasta.  Double boiled "sharkfin" melon also known as "spaghetti melon"  with red dates.

The cherry tomatoes were fresh and cheap at the market and I bought 1 kg of them. Even though, both Sarah and myself like to nibble these as snacks, we were unable to finish all of them.  So I oven-baked some of them. Simply slice into half and squeeze out the seeds.  Toss with salt, pepper and olive oil and also some mixed herbs. Slow bake them in oven at 150C till soft - around 45 minutes to an hour.

  

Such beautiful knobs - make sure that you save all the oil and juices in the pan as well or  I prefer to use some bread to mop up all the juices- scrumptious!  These keep well in the fridge and I  use these to replace any call for sun-dried tomatoes.

Bon appetit!