Chorizo, Artichoke and Olive Linguine

Another quick, easy and super tasty mid-week pasta!  Rich with tomato and spices, fresh with artichokes and rocket and a final flavour burst from chorizo and olives make this a hearty, cheap and yummo dish that the whole family will love.  To make this an equally yummo vegetarian dish, just eliminate the chorizo.......

Serves 4

You will need:

500gm of linguine
1 tbs of olive oil
2 chorizo sausage, sliced thinly
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 red onion, diced
1/2 tsp of chilli flakes (more if you like it spicy)
1 x 400gm  tin of artichoke hearts in brine, drained and sliced into quarters
1 x 50gm bag of fresh baby rocket
1 x 400gm tin of diced tomatoes
1/2 cup of dry white wine
1 tbs of tomato paste
1 cup of pitted kalamata olives
1 tsp of sugar
2 tbs of chopped italian parsley
Sea salt and cracked pepper
Extra virgin olive oil for drizzling
Freshly grated parmesan to serve

Bring a large saucepan of water (with a good sprinkle of salt) to the boil for the pasta.  In the meantime, heat a large heavy based pan, add the olive oil and lightly fry the onion until soft.  Add the garlic, chilli flakes and chorizo and fry until the chorizo has turned nice and golden.  Stir fairly frequently to prevent the garlic burning and then add the wine.  Allow to simmer for a few minutes until the wine has reduced before stirring in the tomatoes and tomato paste and allowing to simmer gently.

Pop the linguine in the pot of boiling, salted water and give a good stir with a set of tongs to prevent the pasta from sticking.  Add the sugar to the sauce, season with salt and pepper and stir well before popping in the olives and artichokes and continuing to simmer.  When the pasta is al dente, stir the parsley and baby rocket through the sauce gently(almost a folding motion) to prevent the artichokes breaking up too much.  It will look like there is too much rocket but once you add the drained linguine and toss it through the sauce, the rocket will wilt.

Divide the pasta between four large bowls and top with the grated parmesan and drizzle with a little extra virgin olive oil.  Pour yourself a lovely red and tuck in!