orrechiette with asparagus, feta and chorizo

chorizo makes frequent appearances in my cooking but, unless there is a pizza involved, it rarely appears in its pre-sliced form. however, a pack of mildly-flavoured chorizo slices which i was sent by abel & cole got me thinking.

i spoke to various friends who had lots of great ideas for using chorizo (or salami for that matter) slices but the idea that caught my fancy simply involved dry-frying it so that the edges crisp up, much as it would on a pizza. i added the juice of a lemon to the pan when it was done, to make a dressing from the oil which the meat released, and then used this to garnish a fresh summery pasta dish of broad beans, asparagus and feta cheese.

this was a really good use of the chorizo (which i’d otherwise have nibbled on with a glass of red wine) and is a nice way to lift a gentle and mildly flavoured dish. i particularly liked the way the chorizo took on a slight lemony tang which made it particularly mouth-watering.

orrechiette with asparagus, feta and chorizo (serves 2)

2 handfuls of broad beans

1 bunch of asparagus

orrechiette for 2

olive oil

zest and juice of a lemon

6-10 chorizo slices

50g crumbled or cubed feta cheese

bring a large pan of water to the boil and cook your beans. remove with a slotted spoon, bring back to the boil and add the asparagus. when it is cooked, remove with a slotted spoon and bring back to the boil before adding the pasta.

while the pasta is cooking de-pod your broad beans (optional but i much prefer them without their opaque skins) and cut the asparagus into bite size pieces. mix the beans and asparagus together with a large glug of olive oil and the lemon zest.

when the pasta is almost ready, put the chorizo in a large pan and fry, in a single layer, until the meat begins to crisp (this may create a lot of smoke!). when the chorizo is ready, remove thepan from the heat and add the lemon juice.

mix the pasta, beans and asparagus together. serve on two plates, topping with the feta and then the chorizo and its juices.