fried egg and spicy chorizo rice

When we're home on the weekend I will often make us a lazy, slightly indulgent brunch - the sort that you want when you're perhaps feeling a little worse for wear from the night before. I usually crave something a little spicy, there needs to a certain 'stodgy' quality to it and there must be eggs involved too. This is a very easy to make dish can have infinite variations depending on your level of creativity. I think it could be wonderful with some cheese melted on top or stirred through, maybe add in some chopped carrots, peppers, mushrooms, sweetcorn and/or peas along with the onion for a healthier option or use a different kind of sausage. Really do whatever takes your fancy but I do urge you to top it off with a crispy-edged but runny-yolked fried egg. It rocks.

Ingredients serves 2 greedy people
3 spicy chorizo-style sausages, raw
1 medium onion, diced
2 garlic cloves, chopped
1 green chilli, de-seeded and chopped (optional)
180g white rice
500ml chicken stock
1 tsp smoked paprika
1 tbsp vegetable oil
salt and pepper to taste
2 organic fried eggs, to serve

1. Heat up a wide frying pan or casserole that has a lid. Add the oil then remove the sausage meat from the casing and place bite-sized pieces in to the pan. Cook over a medium heat until it starts to develop browned edges.
2. Add the onion, garlic and chilli to the pan and stir scraping the bottom of the pan with your wooden spoon to pick up any of the stuck on tasty stuff from the sausages. Keep cooking, stirring the whole time until the onions start to turn translucent. 
3. Add the rice to the pan, stir through so that everything is well combined and the rice starts to pick up colour from the chorizo juices. Add the paprika to the stock, stir then add the whole lot to the pan. 
4. Once the stock in bubbling put the lid on the pan and leave to bubble away on a medium to high heat for 5 minutes. Do not stir or do anything else to the pan at this time. When 5 minutes is up leave the lid on the pan, turn of the heat then leave for 15 to 20 minutes or until the rice has absorbed all the liquid and is cooked through. 
5. In the mean time you can fry your eggs how you like them then serve the rice up with the egg on top. Yum.

(award winning) linguine with breadcrumbs, chili, garlic and anchovy

I love this recipe and there are so many possible variations. I almost always have the ingredients for this in the house so it's a great meal when you haven't got much in or pushed for time. Even if you think you don't like anchovies I urge you to try this recipe. They disappear into the sauce to give a rich and salty flavour to the whole dish. But if you really can't bring yourself to use them leave them out but add some extra olive oil to help the sauce along or try a sundried tomato paste instead. (I've put the complete instructions for this recipe at the end of the post.) This recipe is so good that it one the judges prize in the Instructables Pasta Contest.

Ingredients

250g linguine or spaghetti

70g fresh bread crumbs

1/2 - 1 tsp chili flakes

4 cloves of garlic finely chopped

handful of flat leaf parsley

50g tin anchovy fillets in olive oil

1/2 tsp fennel seeds

1 tbsp olive oil

freshly ground black pepper

Heat a cast iron skillet or thick based frying pan and toast the bread crumbs in the olive oil until golden brown. Just before you remove from the heat add in the fennel seeds and lightly toast. Put the crumbs into a dish and set to one side.

Cook the linguine according to the pack instructions in well salted water.

About 5 minutes before the pasta is cooked heat a wide frying pan over a medium high heat.
Carefully pour in the oil from the anchovy tin and cook the garlic and chili flakes until golden. 

Next add the anchovy fillets and using a wooden spoon squish them until they have dissolved into the garlic and chili mix. Add a couple of ladles of the pasta cooking water to help this along so that you end up with a creamy puree.

Once the pasta is cooked add it to the anchovy mixture followed by the black pepper and the parsley.

Finally add the bread crumbs and stir through then serve.

 

Complete Instructions

1. Heat a cast iron skillet or thick based frying pan and toast the bread crumbs in the olive oil until golden brown. Just before you remove from the heat add in the fennel seeds and lightly toast. Put the crumbs into a dish and set to one side. 
2. Cook the linguine according to the pack instructions in well salted water. 
3. About 5 minutes before the pasta is cooked heat a wide frying pan over a medium high heat.
4. Carefully pour in the oil from the anchovy tin and cook the garlic and chili flakes until golden. 
5. Next add the anchovy fillets and using a wooden spoon squish them until they have dissolved into the garlic and chili mix. Add a couple of ladles of the pasta cooking water to help this along so that you end up with a creamy puree. 
6. Once the pasta is cooked add it to the anchovy mixture followed by the black pepper and the parsley. Finally add the bread crumbs and stir through then serve.