[NEW VIDEO] Chorizo, asparagus and tomato pasta

And so it’s good bye to our two bed house in Oxhey Village. We have moved up the road to a little more space – and a kitchen which can actually have two adults standing in it at the same time!

On our penultimate night at the old house, Archie spontaneously said he wanted to cook. No cameras were set up so, to capture us cooking there for the last time for posterity, I recorded it all with a little handheld. We virtually had no food left in the house, bar some chorizo, some rapidly fading asparagus, a tin of plum tomatoes, some garlic and some tomato purée. This did not deter Archie, who had decided that, come what may, we were going to cook – and he was going to make a pasta.

In many ways, this little video encapsulates the way I have always tried to cook on this blog since it launched in 2009 – simple, thrown together food, using what you have to hand. And, as I always say, it’s hard to go wrong if cooking with good ingredients. As it happens, this chorizo pasta was absolutely delicious – and Archie was dead chuffed with the final result.

So I hope you enjoy this final video from our old house. As I say in it, that kitchen holds so many memories. Archie has learnt so much in there – and I have learnt so much about myself in there too. Still, things move on and I am looking forward to new adventures in our new house and our new kitchen. And who knows, with a certain shouty ten month old girlie showing quite an interest in her daddy cooking, some of the next chapters could involve the full Coffer tag team!

Chrorizo, asparagus and tomato pasta

Serves 4

Preparation time 5 mins
Cooking time 20 mins

Approximately 400g spaghetti
1 good sized chorizo sausage (mine was a classic horse shoe shape), sliced
A handful of asparagus, cut into 1 inch chunks
2 garlic cloves, chopped
1 tin of chopped tomatoes
A squirt of tomato purée
A pinch of dried herbs (we had herbes de Provence)
Olive oil
Salt and freshly ground pepper

1. Cook the pasta in salted boiling water, as per the packet instructions.
2. Meanwhile, put a frying pan on a highm heat, drizzle in a little olive oil and put the chorizo in. It will quickly also release its own oil and start to crisp.
3. Before it gets too crispy, throw in the garlic and stir for 10-15 seconds.
4. Pour in the chopped tomatoes, squirt in a little tomato purée, sprinkle in the herbs and leave to simmer gently, on a low heat for at least 6 or 7 minutes. You can actually leave it simmer for longer and I find this helps concentrate and enrich the tomato flavour.
5. Finally, chuck in the asparagus, season to taste and leave cook for a further 4 or 5 minutes, while the asparagus softens.
6. Drain your pasta, stir it through the sauce for a good minute and a half, leave it to rest for another 30 seconds or so then serve immediately…