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Welcome to the second chapter in the Lugus Cooking blog series! This time the dish is quick but very delicious pasta dish which you can make to impress your friends or committee members! This dish can be made in a very short time and certainly falls into the category of comfort food!

The dish:

A spicy pasta dish with choriza and a small number of other ingredients which can be made even if you do not have the skills of Gordon Ramsay in the kitchen ;)

Cooking time:

15 to 20 minutes, depending on whether the pasta is cooked simultaneously with the sauce.

Ingredients(4 to 5 people):

• 1 chorizo sausage
•  2 onions or 3 shallots
•  2 cloves of garlic
•  1 or 2 red peppers(or spicier pepper species), depending on your spice tolerance
•  1 bell pepper
•  2 cans of diced tomatoes
•  1 can of tomato paste
•  250ml of AH kookroom
•  250 grams of chestnut mushrooms
•  500 grams of pasta of own choosing
•  Dried thyme
•  Basil leafs
•  Dried oregano

Optional ingredients:

• 3 stalks of celery
• 1 large carrot

Instructions:

1. Preheat a large pan of water for the pasta, generously season the water with salt until it is as salty as sea water.
2. Remove the coating from the chorizo if its present, then dice the chorizo into small cubes.
3. Heat up a frying pan until it is hot and throw the chorizo in the pan, no extra oil or butter needed since the fat of the chorizo will render out.
4. During the frying of the chorizo, cut the onion into small chunks or slices. Also finely cut up the garlic and the red pepper.
5. When the chorizo chunks become slightly crunchy and a large part of the fat has been released, add the onion, garlic and red pepper.
6. Sauté the added ingredients until the onions turn translucent.
7. Add the cans of diced tomatoes, the tomato paste and the kookroom as well. (you can add some dried thyme and oregano to introduce some nice flavours)
8. While this mix is simmering, add the pasta to the boiling water and set a timer according to the time which is stated on the pasta package.
9. Add the bell pepper and chestnut mushrooms to the sauce 5 minutes before the pasta is done. This ensures that ingredients are not completely cooked through, keeping some crunch.(if you do not like this you can add these ingredients earlier as well)
10. When the pasta is done, put it through a strainer and mix it with the sauce.
11. Serve the pasta with some grated cheese and basil leafs on top.
12. Enjoy!

PS:When adding the additional ingredients you can finely dice the celery and grate the carrot and add these ingredients at the same moment as the onions.

Written by Kris Schoeman