CHORIZO, MUSHROOM & ROASTED GARLIC RIGATONI

This pasta dish is a staple in our house. I've always made it with Chorizo because it's one of my favourite things to eat and cook with.When you pair it with a Ragu Pasta sauce,it's even better!I sometimes fry them and serve it alongside rice and it kind of takes the place of Beef Ulathiyathu.If you have never tried it, you should. It's a pork sausage with a lot of spice in it.It's delicious and makes everything that you make with it taste awesome!There are two kinds of Chorizo,fresh & dry. I like to use the fresh ones and you can use it just like how you would use a ground meat.

I rarely buy pasta sauces but when I do, I prefer to buy Ragu. It's such a well balanced sauce and it's not overtly tart. Some bottled sauces are so tart that you really wouldn't know how to fix the dish in the end. I used Ragu's Roasted Garlic Pasta sauce because I do have a weak point for roasted garlic,for that matter everything with garlic in it. I don't mind if the sauce is chunky or smooth. This roasted garlic sauce was made chunky.

Assunta made the voyage from Italy to America with a little something extra up her sleeve,her family's recipe for tomato sauce - a secret and sublime combination of vine-ripened tomatoes,fresh basil,fennel,garlic and ground pepper,meticulously writing down every detail and hiding it for safe passage.She must have known she was onto something when the neighbour's raved about it. Then the neighbour's neighbours. Word spread and when people in Iowa started grabbing it off the shelves,well,the legend was off and running.

It wasn't easy,Assunta grew up in a man's word during America's toughest time -the Great Depression.And in a time when people expected less,she gave them more. When people were forced to put their hoped,dreams and aspirations on the back burner, Assunta placed hers directly on the front burner.Her recipe literally became the recipe for her success...Thus, Ragu pasta sauce was born! Hundred of pasta sauces have graced the shelves over the past 80 years, but only one has become America's number one.

Ragu pasta sauces are made with farm grown ingredients and contains no artificial flavours or high fructose corn syrup.

CHORIZO,MUSHROOM & ROASTED GARLIC RIGATONI
My own recipe
Serves 4

Ingredients:
2 fresh Chorizo links,case removed
1 small box button mushrooms,cleaned and sliced
1 small onion, diced
1/2 box good quality Rotini pasta
1 1/4 cups of Ragu Pasta Sauce ( Chunky Roasted Garlic)
Fresh parsley
Salt & Pepper

Method:
In a medium sized pan,on medium high heat, saute the crumbled chorizo till it starts to release it's oil. Add the mushrooms and onions and saute till all the water from mushroom dries up. Add the pasta sauce to it and cook covered,on medium heat for 25 minutes.
Meanwhile,cook the pasta according to the instructions on the box.Do not drain the pasta.
Check the sauce for seasoning and set aside.When the pasta is done,using a slotted spoon,add the hot pasta directly into the sauce and mix well.Check for seasonings.Garnish with chopped parsley and serve hot!

If you want to thin out the sauce,you may use the pasta cooking water for the same.

This is a good one, try it someday. I am sure you will like it. If you are planning to use ground meat instead of chorizo,make sure you season them accordingly. Chorizo is very very flavourful!

There is a sweeps contest running on Food(dot)com. The contest is titled Ready. Set. Cook! and it challenges home cooks to create new and unique recipes featuring Ragu sauce plus a set list of other ingredients! Click here for more details!

ARROZ CON POLLO for 5 years of food blogging!

Ilove planning parties and of course planning it's menu!Once the menu is set, which is the most painstaking thing for me, I look forward to the cooking day.How I love that day! I try to cook something new, something different every time. I make sure I read most of the reviews before trying out a new recipe because of obvious reasons.That is exactly why I ask you dear readers to leave a review of the things you've tried out from here. It will help others for sure!

This time, I chose to do a South American themed dinner when our friends came over.As always, I searched high and low for recipes that I've never tried...which does not mean I have tried almost all the recipes in the world! I have so much to try out,so much to learn...the world of cooking is so mighty and widespread.The world of food blogging makes it easier for me.

Arroz Con Pollo. It is a Cuban chicken and rice dish flavoured with spices like oregano,bay leaves,cinnamon. It has lots of tomatoes in it which made me think whether it would be tangy. It wasn't. It just took the whole dish to another level. I totally loved this dish. The recipe calls for stirring the rice and chicken while it's cooking which is a no-no in my usual rice and chicken dishes because the chances of rice breaking up is very high. I guess this dish is meant to be stirred and nothing big happened. It gives you a mushy texture so do not expect every rice grain to be separate from each other, like our Biriyani's.

This food blog of mine turned 5 years,exactly a month ago. On October 10. It totally skipped my mind and I realised it only a few days later and I dont' think I need to mention how terrible I felt then. Of all the things, it's the 5th Blog Birthday and I forgot that! Mommy brains maybe? :-) So this celebratory recipe is from Gourmet,which I found via Deb.

ARROZ CON POLLO

Ingredients:
For the chicken:
3 large cloves of garlic
2 tablespoon white vinegar
2 tablespoon dried oregano,crumbled
12 chicken thighs,skin & excess fat removed

For the rice:
3 ounce Chorizo,skin removed and diced
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 medium onions, chopped
1 large bell pepper,chopped
3 cloves of garlic, chopped
2 teaspoon ground cumin
2 teaspoons dried oregano
1 1/2 teaspoon hot paprika
2 bay leaves
1 pound tomatoes,seeded and chopped
1 12 ounce bottle dark beer
1 1/2 cups chicken stock
2 cups long grain rice
1/4 cup roasted red pepper strips

Method:
For the chicken: Mince and mash garlic using 2 teaspoons of salt. Add that along with the remaining ingredients and marinate chicken for 1 hour.
For the rice: Add chorizo to a large 6-7 quart pot and saute on medium high heat for 2-3 minutes until it renders some fat. Add the onions, pepper & garlic to it and saute for 5 minutes. Add cumin, oregano,paprika and cook stirring for 1 minute. Add the marinated chicken and cook stirring occassionally for 10 minutes. Add the tomatoes,beer,chicken stock & rice. Cover it with a round of parchment and place the lid over it. Cook for 20 minutes,stirring once or twice in between until the rice is done.Remove the bay leaves & paper. Garnish with red pepper strips and serve!

I asked Jobin to play some Latin music so that it would set the mood of the party just right. While the music played on in the background, we all munched on some Roasted Potatoes topped with Romesco Sauce (dee-licious!), Potato & Chorizo Empanadas (so so good!), Arroz Con Pollo (yum! yum!) & finished off the meal with a super decadent, delicious Chocoflan. Ian enjoyed the Empanadas the most as it was a finger food that he could enjoy while running around entertaining our guests :-)