To make chorizo sausage and chicken livers on pasta for four you will need:
500g linguine pasta
1 can tomatoes
2 large onions
3 cloves garlic
Half a cup chopped basil
Half a cup chopped flat leaf parsley
Pinch dried thyme
250g chorizo sausage
1 glass red wine
500g chicken livers
Black pepper
Chopped chives
1 red chilli (optional)
Extra virgin olive oil
First, the credits. Thank you sister-in-law Colleen for this amazing recipe. Coarsely chop the canned tomatoes, reserving all tomato juices. Peel and thinly slice the onions; crush, peel and mince the garlic. Cut the chorizo into 5mm slices. Select a heavy-based, large frying pan. Pour in sufficient extra virgin olive oil to just cover the bottom then bring it up to medium heat. Add the onions and garlic and let these fry until the onions are soft and translucent. Stir from time to time to prevent sticking.
Stir in all the chopped basil, half the flat leaf parsley and the generous pinch of dried thyme. Add the sliced chorizo sausage and over a gentle heat, fry this combination of ingredients for five minutes. Pour in the chopped tomatoes and the tomato juice, stir and simmer for five minutes. Add the wine. My sister-in-law prefers white wine; my traditionally minded tastebuds insist on red. You choose. Stir and simmer for a further five minutes.
Fit the lid, lower the heat marginally and let the fragrant contents simmer for 30 to 45 minutes. This would be a good time to bring a 2l saucepan of slightly salted water to a brisk, rolling boil. When ready, lower the heat and keep this on standby for the pasta a little later in the proceedings.
While this simmering is going on, select a smaller frying pan and melt 15ml butter and 15ml olive oil. Fry the chicken livers in this, 250g at a time. Ensure they are brown all over with a bit of pink in the middle. Add the livers to the cooked chorizo-dominated sauce in the first frying pan and simmer for five to 10 minutes.
Bring the saucepan of simmering water back to a vigorous rolling boil and cook the pasta for as long as suggested on the packet. Drain and reserve for immediate serving. Final step before blast off: plate each dish with the pasta, add a generous serving of the chorizo and liver topping, sprinkle freshly ground black pepper, the remainder of the parsely and chopped fresh chives over the top of each diner’s plate.
And to drink?
The hot, salty flavours of the chorizo trigger my lust for lager. Urbane sophisticates who spurn beer can always sink a bottle or two of Shiraz or Tinta Barocca. Enjoy.
Contact David Basckin at [email protected]. Please state ‘Real cooking’ in the subject line of your email.
