Chorizo Pasta Bake
This simple family recipe is for a chorizo pasta bake which uses Gruyère and spinach leaves in a rich tasty sauce. This recipe is great for making upfront and cooking in the oven when you want to eat it. It is also great to reheat the next day if you do not manage to finish it the first time round!
Before sprinkling the top with breadcrumbs
Chorizo and Spinach Pasta Bake
Spanish chorizo sausage is a wonderful smokey tasting cured sausage which is great to eat on its own as a snack with a beer or a glass of wine. But it can also be used in cooking, like in this spicy chorizo pasta, where the garlic taste adds a whole new level to a pasta bake.
The advantages of making a pasta bake are several. We like making pasta bake because you can make it up front and keep it in the fridge until you want to cook it. This makes it excellent for dinner parties, so you are not stuck in the kitchen when you have guests.
Pasta bake ready to go in the oven
Secondly, because you bake it in the oven, you can get a nice crispy layer of pasta on the top which adds a bit of crunch to the meal.
And thirdly, you can put whatever ingredients into a pasta bake that you fancy, making it very versatile. This recipe has a super tasty gruyere cheese and spinach sauce, which combines brilliantly with the smokiness and saltiness of the Spanish chorizo.
After baking the pasta has a crispy top layer and a delicious sauce
But you could make a really spicy chorizo pasta by adding some chillis if you wanted to for some variation. We think it is good as it is though.
Using other ingredients
I used Fusilli pasta in this recipe, but of course, you could just as easily use some Penne or Rigatoni.
Swiss Le Gruyère cheese may not be that easy for you to obtain locally. A Gruyère cheese substitute could be the Swiss Emmentaler or the Norwegen Jarlsberg. But in this recipe, you may be quite happy to use a Mozzarella, but the taste will be a bit different. We like the special taste that the Swiss cheese adds to this dish.
We do not have any problems finding chorizo locally. But if you cannot get your hands on any Spanish chorizo, any dry-cured pork sausage alternative should be OK like a hot Italian sausage for example.
Make your own breadcrumbs
I like to give my pasta bakes a thin layer of breadcrumbs on the top to help give that crunchy layer. When I made this meal I realised I did not have any breadcrumbs left in the pantry so I came up with a really simple way to make some that only took a few minutes.
Chorizo Pasta Bake
You take a piece of sliced bread and toast it in your toaster. Then you break it up and put it into your smoothie maker (or in our case our Nutribullet). Give it a quick zap and hey presto – ready-made breadcrumbs. It couldn’t be easier or quicker. Perfect breadcrumbs for cooking with, whether you are making meatballs, baked cauliflower, fish cakes or a chorizo pasta bake.
I hope you enjoy making this dish. If you do, please let me know how you get on in the comments section below!
How to make Chorizo Pasta Bake
Chorizo Pasta Bake
This recipe for a chorizo pasta bake includes a rich and tasty Gruyère cheese sauce and spinach. Super tasty and easy to make. The whole family will love this.
Ingredients
- 400g Pasta (I used durum wheat fusilli pasta in these photos, but feel free to use something else)
- 200g dry-cured Spanish chorizo sausage
- Freshly ground black pepper
For the Sauce
- 2 large garlic cloves
- 40g salted butter
- 2 tbsp flour
- 100g Spinach leaves
- 2 tbsp cream cheese (Philadelphia or equivalent)
- 800 ml milk
- 150g shredded Gruyère cheese
- 60g shredded cheddar cheese (medium)
To garnish
- 1 tbsp paprika
- 3 tbsp fresh breadcrumbs
- Grated Parmesan cheese
Instructions
- Firstly boil a pan of water for the pasta. Cook the pasta in boiling water for 2 minutes less than the time recommended on the packet. Then pour the pasta into a colander and rinse it with cold water under a tap to stop it cooking further. Leave it to drain.
- While boiling the pasta, finely chop the garlic and slice the chorizo into slices. Lightly fry the chorizo in a skillet until the fat starts to ooze out, about 3 minutes, just enough to crisp it up a little bit. Then pour the chorizo onto the pasta in the colander and leave it to drain.
- Now make the sauce. Melt the butter in a saucepan and add the diced garlic. Cook for two minutes, then add the flour and cook for a further minute on medium heat. Then slowly add the milk, bit by bit, stirring as you go, until the sauce begins to thicken.
- Then add the gruyere and cheddar cheese and melt it into the sauce. Add the cream cheese and spinach leaves and cook for 1-2 minutes until the leaves have softened and the sauce has a good thickness. Taste the sauce and season with black pepper to suit.
- Then pour the pasta and chorizo into your baking casserole and cover with the sauce. The top layer of pasta should be just uncovered with sauce.
- Then sprinkle with the breadcrumbs, parmesan and paprika. Store in the fridge until ready to eat.
- When ready to eat, pre-heat the oven to 180C and cook in the oven for 40 minutes, or until the top has browned nicely with a crispy layer.
Notes
If you cannot find gruyere cheese feel free to use mozzarella or Emmentaler instead as a substitution.
The advantage of the gruyere cheese is that it seems to reheat very well if you have any leftovers. We always reheat in the microwave in a special microwave-safe Tupperware bowl that we have.
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Nutrition Information:
Yield: 5 Serving Size: 1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 706Total Fat: 44gSaturated Fat: 22gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 18gCholesterol: 122mgSodium: 1041mgCarbohydrates: 42gFiber: 3gSugar: 1gProtein: 35g
This nutrition information was automatically calculated by Nutritionix, but may not be 100% accurate.