An easy and tasty chorizo and pepper pasta recipe, made in just 30 minutes.
Perfect for busy weeknights when time is of the essence!
It's always good to have speedy pasta recipes up your sleeve for busy weeknights. This tasty chorizo pasta with sweet red peppers is one of those recipes! A mark of its success is just how often it's requested in this house!
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✔️ Why should you try it?
- Quick and easy to make
- Family friendly
- Leftovers are great for lunch the next day
- A filling meal for growing kids
🥘 Ingredients
Pasta - I've used penne, but other pasta shapes, such as rigatoni or fusilli could also be used.
Red Onion - gives the dish a lovely sweetness.
Garlic - adds flavour to the pasta.
Chorizo - I love how chorizo adds a smokiness to dishes.
Peppers - red and yellow bell peppers were used in this recipe.
Passata - my kids prefer sauces smooth, but if you prefer, you could use a tin of chopped tomatoes instead.
Tomato Puree - adds a depth of flavour.
Smoked Paprika - enhances the paprika flavour of the chorizo.
Dried Italian Herbs - for seasoning and flavour.
Sugar - helps balance the acidity of the tomatoes.
Basil - for garnishing.
Parmesan - essential on any pasta dish I say!
🔪 Instructions
The recipe card with ingredient quantities and detailed instructions can be found at the bottom of the post
One: Heat a little oil in a shallow casserole or frying pan and fry the red onion and garlic for a few minutes before adding the chorizo and peppers. Meanwhile, bring a pan of salted water to the boil and cook the pasta according to packet instructions, drain and set aside.
Two: After the chorizo mix has been cooking for 5 minutes drain off any excess fat, add the passata, tomato puree, sugar, smoked paprika, italian herbs, salt and pepper and simmer for 10 minutes.
Three: Add the drained pasta to the pan and stir to make sure the pasta is coated in the sauce.
Four: Sprinkle over the grated Parmesan and garnish with basil.
💭 Top tips
- The chorizo will release quite a lot of oil when fried, so you only need a small teaspoon of olive oil to start the onions and garlic cooking. If you find the mixture is still quite oily once the chorizo has released the oils, remove some of the oil with a spoon before you add the passata.
- Cook the pasta to al dente as it will continue to cook in the tomato pasta sauce. You don't want to end up with mushy pasta.
- Reserve a little pasta cooking water to add to the sauce if you need to.
🍴 Serving suggestions
We usually enjoy the smoky chorizo and pepper pasta just as it is, but if you wanted to make the meal more substantial you could serve a green salad and some garlic bread alongside it.
📖 Variations
This is a great base recipe for adding extra vegetables or cooked meats. A tin of sweetcorn or chickpeas would help bulk the pasta out to feed more people.
Wholemeal pasta could be used instead of white pasta to increase the fibre content of the dish.
Leftover cooked chicken or cooked prawns could be added to the dish at the end of cooking.
A jar of roasted red peppers could be used instead of the fresh bell peppers.
🥡 Storage
The cooked pasta can be stored in the fridge for up to 3 days. Reheat in the microwave for a quick and tasty lunch.
❓ FAQS
What is chorizo?
Chorizo is a Spanish cured sausage made from coarsely chopped pork and pork fat and seasoned with garlic, smoked paprika (pimenton) and salt.
Can I freeze it?
Cooked pasta doesn't freeze that well and can become a bit chewy once defrosted. It will still taste great though so by all means freeze a portion if you need a quick and easy meal to pull out at short notice.
😋Related recipes
Some more delicious pasta recipes to try;
- Chorizo Mac and Cheese
- Creamy Paprika Chicken Pasta
- Creamy Cajun Chicken Pasta
- Easy Lasagne
- Turkey Bolognese
- Creamy Bacon and Pumpkin Pasta
- One-Pan Chicken Penne Arrabbiata
- Chicken and Broccoli Pasta Bake
- Slow Cooker Macaroni Cheese
- Aubergine Tomato Pasta Sauce
- Easy Cheesy Pasta
If you love chorizo, also check out my oven baked chicken and chorizo risotto recipe!
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🍽️ More family-friendly recipes
Recipe
Chorizo and Pepper Pasta
Ingredients
- 300 g Penne or other pasta shape
- 1 Red Onion sliced
- 3 Garlic Cloves chopped
- 200 g Chorizo sliced
- 2 Peppers red or yellow, sliced
- 400 g Passata
- 1 tbsp Tomato Puree
- 1 tsp Sugar
- 1 tsp Smoked Paprika
- 1 tsp Dried Italian Herbs
- Basil Leaves to garnish
- 100 g Parmesan grated
- Salt and Pepper
Instructions
- Bring a pan of water to the boil and cook the pasta according to instructions, drain and set aside (reserving a cup of pasta cooking water).
- Whilst the pasta is cooking, heat 1 tsp of olive oil in a shallow casserole or frying pan and cook the sliced red onion and garlic for a couple of minutes.
- Add the chorizo and sliced peppers and cook for a further 5 minutes. Drain excess fat.
- Stir in the passata, tomato puree, sugar, smoked paprika, dried italian herbs, salt and pepper and simmer for 10 minutes.
- Stir through the cooked pasta and add a little of the pasta cooking water to make the sauce lovely and glossy.
- Serve with the basil and grated Parmesan.
Dannii
I love anything with chorizo in it and this pasta looks amazing. So comforting.
Sharon Chen
Simple and easy to make, but definitely delicious and healthy! Will try this out for our family lunch some time 🙂
Danielle Wolter
This was just incredible! It was so easy to make and perfect for a easy weeknight meal. Will def be making this again!
Beth Sachs
Glad to hear you enjoyed it Danielle!
Gina
We love this easy pasta meal for weeknight dinners. So much flavor from the chorizo and super comforting!
Sue
I can see why this gets requested often. I think I'll never grow tired of it!
Tania | Fit Foodie Nutter
I love how quick and easy it is to prepare! It's a great meal to pull out of the sleeve! Thank you for the recipe x
veenaazmanov
This is the best Dinner my family would never want to miss. Delicious and perfect Happy Meal combination. Yum
Kate
Such a simple but totally delicious weeknight meal, thanks so much! Loved it.
Dannii
We love adding chorizo to pasta dishes. Total comfort food.
Angela
I love the smokiness of chorizo. I really enjoyed this recipe.
Beth
Such an easy one pan meal. I love chorizo and can't wait to make this!