Spicy Chorizo Pasta
Ingredients
- Kosher salt and black pepper, to taste
- 1-pound orecchiette or other short pasta
- ¼ cup olive oil
- 4 ounces Spanish chorizo, casing removed, if necessary (see Note), and thinly sliced
- 3 tbsp. double concentrate tomato paste or 6 tbsp. canned tomato paste
- 3 garlic cloves, peeled and smashed
- ½ tsp. red-pepper flakes
Instructions
- Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil.
- Add pasta and cook, according to package directions, until al dente.
- Reserve 1 cup of the pasta cooking water, then drain the pasta.
- Meanwhile, in a large Dutch oven, heat the olive oil and chorizo over medium-high.
- Cook, stirring occasionally, until chorizo is crisp and brown; 2 to 3 minutes.
- Turn off the heat and use a slotted spoon to transfer the chorizo to a plate.
- Return the pot to medium heat and add the tomato paste and garlic.
- Cook, stirring, until the tomato paste is caramelized and a shade darker; 3 to 5 minutes; covering the pan if the splattering is wild.
- Add the red-pepper flakes and a few grinds of black pepper; stir to combine; remove from heat.
- Add the cooked pasta and ½ cup of the reserved pasta water to the tomato mixture.
- Return the pot to the medium-high heat; stir vigorously until the pasta is well coated.
- Add more pasta water until the sauce is glossy.
- Stir in the chorizo; season to taste with salt and pepper.
Notes
Some cured chorizo casings are edible, but if the casings on the sausages are white and chalky, plastic or especially thick, remove before cooking.