Pappardelle with Chorizo Ragu

One of our favourite cookery writers and stylists, Donna Hay, has inspired this recipe.

Serves 4

Ingredients
400 gr dried chorizo
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
2 sprigs rosemary
1 red chilli
2 cloves garlic
salt and pepper
good glug of red wine (about 100 ml)
1 x 400 g can peeled tomatoes
2 tablespoons brown sugar
400 g pappradelle
250 g buffalo mozzarella
green salad, to serve

Method
Remove the cases from the chorizo and roughly chop. Place into a Magimix (foodprocessor) and process until finely chopped, resembling minced meat. Set aside.

Bring a pan of salted water to the boil for the pasta. Finely chop the garlic, deseed the chilli and finely chop half of it (or more depending on how spicy you like it). Heat the olive oil in a large frying pan over medium-high heat. Strip trip the leaves from the rosemary stalks and chop them roughly. Add the rosemary to the pan and cook for 30 seconds until crisp. Remove and set aside. Add the chorizo, garlic, chilli, salt and pepper to the pan and cook for 3-4 minutes until golden and crispy, stirring often.

Add the wine and cooked cook for 30 seconds to 1 minute. Add the tomatoes and brown sugar and bring to a simmer. Turn the heat to low and cook for 5-7 minutes. ( If you find that too much oil has come from the chorizo, you can also spoon a little off). While the chorizo is cooking, cook the pasta in the boiling water according to the package instructions. Drain and reserve 100 ml of the cooking liquid.

Add a little of the reserved cooking liquid to the chorizo mixture to start with, making sure ragu has a nice consistency. Divide the pasta between 4 bowls. Top with the chorizo ragu and tear the mozzarella over. Sprinkle over the crispy rosemary, drizzle with some of the chorizo oil in the pan and serve with a green salad simply dressed with olive oil.