Potato and chorizo soup

Surprise surprise, another recipe with chorizo in it. Cannot get enough of the stuff! This one's not spicy at all though as the potatoes calm it down somewhat.

Ingredients:

Olive oil, for frying
125g chorizo sausage
1 large onion, chopped
300g sweet potatoes, peeled and chopped
300g floury potatoes, peeled and chopped
900ml chicken stock
2 tbsp chopped fresh chives, to garnish
1 tbsp greek yoghurt per person to serve

Method:

1. Finely slice a quarter of the chorizo, then chop up the rest;

2. In a large casserole, fry the sliced chorizo in olive oil over a moderate heat until crispy, then set aside until the end;

3. Add the rest of the chorizo to the pan with the chopped onion and fry until the onions have softened;

4. Add both sets of potatoes and fry for a further 5 mins;

5. Stir in the chicken stock, put a lid on and simmer for 45 mins or until the potatoes are fully cooked;

6. Puree the soup in a blender in stages and return to a saucepan. Reheat gently and season to taste.

7. Stir in a swirl of greek yoghurt or soured cream and sprinkle over the chives and the crispy chorizo slices.

8. Serve with warm ciabatta and enjoy.

Penne Arrabiata with Chorizo

This is an extremely mouth-watering dish that tastes as good cold as it does hot. I make a big batch up on a Sunday most weeks and take it to work with a salad for lunch all week - it never gets boring!
Arrabiata means angry in Italian and usually contains chilli peppers or powder in it. The spice in my dish, however, comes from the chorizo and paprika. You can use any pasta you like, but I like penne because it holds the sauce nicely within it.

Ingredients:

250g penne pasta

400g chopped tomatoes

1 medium brown onion, finely diced

1 red pepper, finely diced

2 garlic cloves, crushed

1 tsp paprika

1 tbsp parsley, chopped

1 tbsp tomato purée

1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

half of a chorizo ring, finely diced

A generous glug of good quality balsamic vinegar

Recipe:

Heat the oil in a heavy-based saucepan over a moderate heat and fry the onions for 7 mins until softened, then add the crushed garlic and fry for another minute. Pour in the balsamic and turn up the heat until the onions start to caramelize. Add the diced pepper and chorizo and fry for another 5 mins. Stir in the chopped tomatoes, paprika and parsley and lightly simmer, stirring frequently whilst you cook the pasta.

To cook the pasta, bring some salted water to the boil, add the pasta and boil for 9-12 mins depending on how you like your pasta. I like mine the traditional al dente, so I cook mine for 9 mins. Once the pasta is cooked, drain well in a colander and rinse with boiling water from the kettle. Add the tomato purée to the sauce and mix the pasta with the sauce. Sprinkle with cheese and serve with garlic bread and my home-made coleslaw with a punch!