Spanish touch: bring a touch of Spain to pasta night. (Photo: Tony Jackman)
Green manzanilla olives have such an alluring flavour. Is it nutty, no, it’s smoky, or hang on – it’s bitter but somehow sweet, yet sort of citrus-tangy; I mean, what is that taste? Such an intriguing little green pop of mystery. I love them.
And chorizo from Navarra, Spain, with notes of paprika and cayenne, and peppery too; how well would that go with three olives. This is how recipes are made, with the mind and imagining what things, combined, will taste like. And which pasta to go with it? Something chunky, I thought. Ah: rigatoni.
There needs to be wine, white and perky. And onion and garlic, undoubtedly. And bringing it all together, passata, the strained tomatoes so perfect for pasta.
And when you add some dairy to passata, even more magic happens, and here we have it: rigatoni with chorizo, manzanilla olives and a creamy tomato sauce. Olé!
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Oh, just one more thing: don’t forget the brine from the olives. That has so much flavour and is an ingredient in itself. It adds delicious intrigue to a pasta sauce so that your guests will think: hmmmm… what is that? And isn’t that what you want?
Tony’s rigatoni with chorizo and green olives
(Serves 4)
Ingredients
250g rigatoni
Salted boiling water
Olive oil
1 medium red onion, finely chopped
3 garlic cloves, crushed and chopped
200ml white wine (sauvignon blanc or chenin)
The brine from the green olives
300ml passata (strained tomatoes)
250ml crème fraîche
70g chorizo rounds (mine was dry cured for 24 days in Navarra)
70g pitted green manzanilla olives in brine
A third of the chorizo, chopped, for garnish
Finely grated lime zest for garnish
Salt
Black pepper
1 ladle of pasta water
Method
Sauté the onion and garlic gently in olive oil.
Add 200ml white wine and reduce.
Add the olive brine and reduce again.
Add 200ml passata and simmer for a few minutes.
Add 250g crème fraîche, stir well and cook through.
Slice the chorizo into tiny pieces and add half to the sauce, retaining the balance. Add half of the green olives to the sauce. Season with salt and black pepper.
Meanwhile, cook the rigatoni until al dente. Spoon off a ladleful of the pasta water and stir it into the sauce.
Drain the pasta and quickly add it to the sauce. Add the remaining chorizo, and serve, scattering the remaining green olives over. Grate the zest of a lime over. That’s it, tuck in. Parmesan doesn’t belong here. DM
Tony Jackman is Galliova Food Writer 2023, jointly with TGIFood columnist Anna Trapido. Order his book, foodSTUFF, here
Follow Tony Jackman on Instagram @tony_jackman_cooks.
This dish is photographed on wares by Mervyn Gers Ceramics.