CHORIZO MAC AND CHEESE

Mac and cheese is my all time favourite dish - I could eat it every week (or every day)….although that probably wouldnt be the smartest decision health wise considering the amount of cheese I put in. However I do like to cook it every so often as a treat.

My favourite recipe is this mac and cheese with lardons, leeks and spinach although my daughter Arabella and I are quite a fan of the Kraft boxed mac and cheese although I dont think it contains much goodness :-) This is a new recipe I saw on Lorraines morning TV show - it is a completely different way to cook the dish and took about 50 minutes.

Ingredients for 4 people (big, healthy portions):

350g dried macaroni pasta
4 uncured chorizo sausage (or a flavour of your choice)
1 red onion, finely diced
2 garlic cloves, crushed
1 x 410g tin evaporated milk
80ml tomato ketchup
1 tsp English mustard
300g Cheddar cheese
1/2 a big pack of cheesy tortilla chips
Couple of drops of hot sauce (we didnt use)

Preheat the oven to 180 C / gas mark 4.

Boil the macaroni in salted boiling water according to the packets instructions - mine took 7 minutes and I cooked them al dente. Drain and then set aside.

Chop the onion, crush the garlic and remove the chorizo from its casing and then cut into bite size pieces. Fry in a dry pan for 3-4 minutes.

Add the onion and garlic and cook for a further five minutes until softened.

Add the evaporated milk, ketchup, mustard, 2/3 of the grated cheese and then stir until melted. 

Season and add the hot sauce if desired.

Stir in the pasta.

Pour into a baking dish.

Blitz up the tortilla chips until they resemble breadcrumbs - I scrunched them in the bag but you could use a food processor. Sprinkle over the pasta and then cover with cheese.

Bake in the oven for 30 minutes or until golden. Leave to stand for 5 minutes before serving.

I have to admit I was pretty dubious about cooking mac and cheese with ketchup and evaporated milk but it actually really worked and the tortilla chips and cheese topping was amaze balls!! It was a little sweet - I think to enhance the flavour I would serve with a green salad next time. Arabella prefers this version to my one with leeks and spinach….although that is not surprising for a kid….my husband Pascal shocked me by loving this too even though he hates ketchup and milk. We will definitely be cooking this again - it was quick and simple and cheap as well.

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BRAISED PORK WITH TOMATOES CHORIZO THYME BLACK OLIVES

I love to cook a proper lunch on a Sunday although unlike most English, I dont like to do a traditional roast and instead like to mix it up a bit! Here is a Spanish pork recipe I found in a Waitrose magazine and it is from the London based chef Jose Pizarro who has a tapas bar and two restaurants around the city. It took around 2 hours to make.

Ingredients for 6 people:

1kg diced pork shoulder (I couldnt buy diced pork so ended up buying pork loins which I diced myself). 
4 tbsp olive oil
150ml red wine
2 onions, chopped
6 garlic cloves, finely chopped
200g chorizo, skinned and chopped
2 tsp sweet smoked paprika
2 tbsp tomato puree
400g can of chopped tomatoes
300ml fresh chicken stock
3 thyme sprigs, leaves picked
2 tbsp chopped oregano
4 bay leaves
3 tbsp sherry vinegar
2 tsp caster sugar
100g pitted black olives

Season the pork. Heat 2 tablespoons of oil in a large, flameproof casserole dish and sear the pork in batches, until browned, then set aside in a bowl.

Add the wine to the pan and as it bubbles up, scrape down the base of the pan with a wooden spoon to release all the caramelised juices. Pour over the pork and set aside.

Add the remaining 2 tablespoons of oil to the pan with the onions, cover and fry gently for 15 minutes, stirring now and then until they are very soft.

Add the garlic and chorizo and fry for 2-3 minutes.

Stir in the paprika and cook for one minute.

Add the tomato puree, tomatoes, stock, herbs, pork and juices. Season and simmer for 1 hour with a cover on for half the time. I made the mistake of not checking or stirring mine and managed to burn it a little so I advise you to keep an eye on it! Although I expect mine burnt because I just cooked half the recipe.

Boil the vinegar and sugar in a small pan until it reduces to about 1 teaspoon.

Stir into the casserole with the olives and simmer uncovered for another 20 minutes until the pork is tender.

Season and serve with some fried potatoes (if you like).

This was way better than I was expecting and we all really enjoyed it - the chorizo in it made it much more appealing to Arabella than she thought and I adored all the flavours. It was very warming and so tasty…..I have now added Jose Pizarros restaurants to my list of places I want to eat! This worked really well as a family lunch with fried potatoes and I think it would be dinner party worthy as well.

  

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PASTA WITH CHORIZO TOMATO GOATS CHEESE

Arabella is a goats cheese fanatic and would literally have it with every meal. I see it as a good way of increasing her calcium intake as she hates milk. Therefore I have a whole array of goats cheese recipes…it helps that I also adore it!!

This is a very quick easy meal that can be adapted for taste but this is how we did it and we absolutely loved it!

Ingredients for 2 people:

6 ripe tomatoes

160g spaghetti (or you could use any type of pasta).

85g chorizo, chopped

2 garlic cloves, chopped

80g goats cheese, chopped

A handful of fresh basil or snipped chives

According to this recipe the whole cooking process should take 5 minutes but that certainly wasnt the case for me. The tomatoes took longer to prepare however they were worth it.

Boil the kettle and then pour boiling water over the tomatoes, cover and leave for one minute.

Then drain and remove the skins (they literally fall off) and seeds, and chop into small pieces. This was an extremely messy process! Also slice the garlic.

Bring a large pan of salted water to the boil and cook the pasta according to the packets instructions (mine took 10 minutes).

While the pasta is cooking, fry the garlic in a tablespoon of olive oil for a couple of minutes and then add the tomatoes, chorizo and season.

If necessary, add another tablespoon of olive oil (I did) and then cook gently for around 8 minutes.

Drain the pasta and mix together with the tomato and chorizo sauce.

Stir in half the goats cheese until it is mostly melted.

Finally serve with the remaining goats cheese and a sprinkling of chives (or basil).

This was delicious - Arabella and I both adored it and ate every last morsel. We will be adding this to our regular cook list. It was so simple yet so tasty. You could mix it up by using bacon instead of chorizo or using mozzarella or blue cheese instead of goats cheese. We sent a picture of it to Pascal who is in France and he had serious food envy….not surprising though!!

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BUTTERBEAN AND CHORIZO HOTPOT 5 2 DIET

As I have mentioned, probably several times, I follow the 5:2 diet. I am a creature of habit however I do sometimes get a little bored of the endless soup, stir fries and salmon that I eat on "2" days and so I decided it was time to try something new. This is a recipe which I found in the Daily Mail and it took around 30 minutes.

Ingredients for 2 people:

30g chorizo, finely chopped
1 medium onion, peeled and finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed
1 x 400g tin of chopped tomatoes
1 tbsp tomato puree
1 tsp smoked paprika
Pinch of sugar
Salt and pepper
Handful of coriander, roughly chopped, to serve

Heat a medium-sized pan and gently fry the chorizo to release its colour, oil and flavour. 

Add the onion and garlic and cook gently until they have softened (about 5 minutes).

Add the butter beans, tomatoes, tomato puree, paprika and sugar. Simmer for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Add 2 tablespoons of water or a little more, if the pan starts to look a little dry.

Finally serve between 2 bowls with some chopped coriander.

This comes to a total of 249 calories per portion - I weighed the two bowls so I made sure each portion was equal. As I was sharing it with my daughter, Arabella, she added some crusty bread and goats cheese to bulk out her portion. I really enjoyed it - it certainly did not feel like diet food and was really tasty and filling. Arabella was not so keen - too many onions  - but it wasnt the worst thing she had eaten apparently!!

Dont scrimp on the coriander, it really makes the dish. A great recipe for a "2" day.

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