Here we are again, yet another delicious recipe inspired by my trip to Spain. As you can tell, I have an exceptional capacity for eating anything remotely Iberian. Happily, this dish, like Patatas Revolconas, reminds one immediately of Spanish cuisine; the culprit in both recipes being paprika. I’m sure that I’ll eventually emerge, with my skin coloured a perfect shade of red and my aura pervaded by a spicy scent, from my love affair with paprika, but today is not that day.

The first time I had this particular dish was in Avila, the closest city to Navalmoral, which is in many ways the Spanish equivalent of Carcassonne – the famous crusading city of Languedoc-Roussillon (formerly Languedoc). My girlfriend and I were looking for a place to lunch when we discovered a restaurant in which one could get three courses and a drink for around 10 euros. Though it turned out that almost every restaurant in the city offered this set-menu, it was too good a deal to pass up. Spicy chorizo and tomato pasta is what I had for my starter and it was followed by a veal entrecote steak, lemon mousse and half a bottle of red – the entire meal was outstanding, though I felt a little criminal for paying only a fraction of what it would have cost in Britain.

To be honest, I hadn’t even thought about preparing this until I took a trip to my local supermarket this afternoon. What convinced me of the necessity to recreate that starter was the discovery of a new line of passata, a carton of which costs a mere 29p – it was the ideal ingredient. I was so enamoured with the notion that I scooted off home and got… busy – it went down a treat. The sauce may have only three ingredients, yet the thickness of the passata and the flavours naturally harboured by the chorizo belie its simplicity and make for an exceedingly rich and flavourful meal. Please enjoy this recipe, yet another great taste of Spain.

Chorizo and Tomato Pasta {recipe}

Serves 3-4

Ingredients:

• 100g spicy chorizo

• 400g carton of passata

• 1 tbsp smoked paprika

• 300g pasta

Method:

1. Cube the chorizo and being to gently fry it in a saucepan, save a little for a garnish. Pop the pasta on to boil at this point – this tomato sauce doesn’t need cooking for more than 20 minutes since it doesn’t contain the bitter seeds. Add the paprika to the chorizo, before tipping in the passata.

2. The sauce will be done once the pasta is cooked. Season to taste and mix the sauce into the pasta. Serve with a little raw, cubed chorizo.

Cost: Chorizo is a relatively cheap cured meat, perhaps because of its relative popularity. As such, this entire meal should set one back a mere £1.65 – a rather compelling proposition, I think.