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.

 


Pappardelle with Italian meatballs

Serves 4

Ingredients
750 g beef mince
2 slices white bread or enough panko to bind
100 ml milk
1 sprig fresh rosemary
small bunch flat leaf parsley
100 g grated Parmesan, or more if required
2 egg yolks
salt and pepper
olive oil
1 banana shallot
2 cloves garlic
1 bottle tomato passata (750 ml)
1 red chilli pepper
1 teaspoon ground cumin
400 g pappardelle
20 g basil

Method

Place the mince in bowl and season with salt and pepper. Place the bread or panko in another bowl and pour over the milk and allow to soften for a few minutes. Finely chop the rosemary and parsley and add to the mince along with the 2 egg yolks and 40 g of the Parmesan. Squeeze the milk out of the bread, break into little pieces and add to the meat. Using your hands, knead the beef mince well. Season with salt and pepper.

Heat a frying pan with 2 tablespoons olive oil. Fry a little piece of the mince to taste if you have the seasoning correct. Add more salt and pepper, and perhaps some more Parmesan, if needed. Roll the beef mince into walnut-sized ball. Fry them, in batches, until golden on all sides. Set them aside.

Bring a pot of salted water to the boil for the pasta. Finely chop the shallot, red chilli and garlic.

Heat a frying pan over medium heat with 2 tablespoons olive oil and sweat the chopped shallot for 3 minutes. Add the garlic, chilli to taste and the ground cumin to the pan and fry for a further 1 minute.

Add the tomato passata and simmer gently for 10-15 minutes. Season with salt and pepper and set aside. Add the meat balls to the tomato sauce and keep warm.

Cook the pappardelle for about 6-7 minutes until al dente, drain off the water and divide between 4 deep bowls.

Divide the meatballs and tomato sauce over the pasta. Scatter the basil leaves and Parmesan over and serve.

Delicious served with a green salad.

We, the Amsterdam Flavours chefs, hope you enjoy this recipe as much as we do. If you have any questions on how to prepare it or just want to send us your feedback, you can reach us here Contact Amsterdam Flavours