Spicy Chorizo and Olive Pasta

Don't you just love it when a recipe comes together and it seems to take no effort at all? I had a picture in my head and I created it. This recipe came about because I was trying to use up random ingredients in my fridge such as half packets of used pasta, half tins of tomatoes, one or two fresh tomatoes etc.

Tuna, Spinach & Tomato Pasta

When I moved out of the house, my mother bought me one of those Ina Paarman Mini Cookbook's. I tried out literally every recipe in the book and one of my very favourites was her Tuna and Tomato Tagliatelle with Rocket. I've made the recipe a thousand times since then, but I have changed the recipe a little bit every time I've cooked it.

Looking back now, my version of this pasta is far from the original Ina Paarman recipe I started with. The rocket has been replaced with spinach (and lots of it) and I make my own tomato-based sauce instead of purchasing the bottled kind. I also like to add cherry tomatoes to get some chunky bits to the pasta sauce and one day I discovered that its even better when I take the time to pre-grill them in the oven with a splash of balsamic vinegar.

Trinchado

I love a good Trinchado. We used to go to the Portuguese Festival (Lusito Land) every year and the first thing I would do when we arrived, was sniff out a big fat bowl of steaming Trinchado and a crunchy roll to dip in that delicious sauce. It is no surprise then that Trinchado was one of the first things I taught myself to cook. I remember going onto the internet and looking over about 4 or 5 Trinchado recipes and looking at what ingredients all the recipes had in common and then I just made it up as i went along.

I've made Trinchado so many times since then and every time the recipe changes because I keep tasting the sauce and adding ingredients depending on my mood. I'm pretty sure I've completely deviated from what a traditional Trinchado should be but frankly my Trinchado is the shizz (amazingly delicious) and traditional or not it has become the best Trinchado on the planet in my opinion (modesty and all that).