Penne in a chorizo and tomato sauce

My good friend and sports journalist Neal Collins (you may have seen him on Sky News last week calling Wayne Bridge a wimp) appealed to me for an easy, 'manly' recipe that he could cook for his family.
Now while this dish won't win you any Michelin stars it certainly ticks all the boxes if you've got very little time but want to produce a hearty and tasty meal with minimal effort.
BTW check out Neal's blog at www.nealcollins.co.uk/blog

Serves 4

• 350g penne
• 1 large chorizo sausage (or about 400g), chopped coarsely into dice
• 1 large onion, finely chopped
• 1 400g tin of chopped tomatoes
• 1 tbsp red wine vinegar
• 1 tsp sugar
• 1 tbsp flat leafed parsley, leaves picked and finely chopped
• Freshly grated parmesan and extra virgin olive oil to serve

In a non-stick saucepan slowly fry the chorizo in a little oil over a low heat for 7 minutes and add the onion. Continue to fry for about another 10 minutes or until the chorizo is crisp.

Add the tin of tomatoes and cook on a low heat for a further 15 minutes. Meanwhile cook the pasta in boiling salted water until al dente.

Add the vinegar and sugar to the tomato sauce and season well.

When cooked, drain the pasta, retaining about a ladelful of the water. Add the pasta to the sauce with the pasta water and continue to cook for another five minutes ensuring all the penne is nicely coated with the sauce. Check the seasoning again and serve in bowls topped with freshly grated parmesan, the parsley and a drizzle of good quality extra virgin olive oil.

Chickpea and pancetta soup

Several people who attended this weekend's supperclubs expressed an interest in the chickpea and pancetta soup recipe, so here it is!

• 500g pancetta cut into 1 cm lardons
• 1 leek, finely diced
• 1 onion, finely diced
• 1 large carrot, finely diced
• 3 sticks of celery, finely diced
• 2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
• bouquet garni (sprig of rosemary, thyme, bayleaf, black peppercorns)
• 1 litre of white chicken stock
• Handful of freshly grated parmesan
• 2 400g tins of chickpeas
• Handful of flat leafed parsley, leaves picked and finely chopped
• A few glugs of good extra virgin olive oil
• Salt and pepper

Fry the lardons slowly over a medium heat until crisp. Drain the oil that renders but do not discard and place the lardons to one side.

In a deep sauce pan, fry the onion, leek, carrots, celery and garlic slowly in the pancetta oil over a low heat. To achieve a deeply flavoured soup fry for a long time until the veg is lovely and browned — but not burnt!

Add the chicken stock and the bouquet garni to the vegetables and reduce buy a third. Add the chickpeas, blitz half of the soup in a blender and return to the pan.

Add the parmesan, lardons and parsley and season well.

Serve with ciabatta or foccacia with a generous drizzle of good quality extra virgin olive oil

Let me know how it goes! x