Chorizo Chickpea Tomato Pasta

This Chorizo Chickpea Tomato Pasta is a flavorful one-pot meal that the whole family will love. Dish it up and sprinkle on the feta!

Today my Sunday FunDay friends are sharing recipes made with ingredients that add umami, the fifth taste our taste buds detect. It is usually associated with meat, seafood, tomatoes, mushrooms and cheese so this dish has umami to spare with chorizo, tomatoes and feta.

Make sure to scroll down to see the links to the other umami-rich recipes. 

Chorizo Chickpea Tomato Pasta

My can of tomatoes were fire-roasted (hence the specks of black in the photo of the simmering pot) but any crushed tomatoes will do. This recipe is adapted from Delicious.co.uk.  I'm not a fan of the dill in the original and just happened to have some chorizo in the refrigerator. If you do not or if you want to make this vegetarian, substitute some lovely oil-cured olives, which add loads of umami as well. 

Ingredients

1 tablespoon olive oil

4 oz Spanish-style chorizo

1 onion

2 cloves garlic

1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper, plus extra to serve

1 1/2 teaspoon brown mustard seeds

7 1/2 oz or 215g ditalini or other small pasta shape

14.5 oz or 411g can crushed tomatoes

15 oz or 425g canned chickpeas, drained and rinsed

2 cups or 480ml chicken or vegetable stock

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

Fine sea salt to taste

For topping:

3 1/2 oz or 100g feta, crumbled

crushed red pepper

Optional for garnish: parsley 

Method

Finely dice the onion and garlic and cut the chorizo into small cubes. 

Heat the oil in a deep pot and add the cubed chorizo and fry for a few minutes which will release the gorgeous red oil. Add in the onion and garlic. Sauté gently for 6-8 minutes until softened but not colored.

Turn up the heat slightly, and make a little space in the middle of the pan. Pour the mustard seeds in the space and sprinkle the crushed red pepper over the chorizo and vegetables. Fry for 1-2 minutes more until the mustards seeds begin to pop. 

Pour in the pasta and stir to coat.  

Add the tomatoes, stock and chickpeas. 

Give the whole thing a good stir. 

Bring to the boil then turn the heat down and simmer for 20 minutes, stirring frequently, until the sauce has thickened and the pasta is tender. 

Add in the baking soda and stir well. 

It will bubble up as the soda neutralizes some of the acid in the tomato sauce. This is a secret I learned from an Italian-American nonna and I use it every time I make tomato sauce of any kind. It makes the sauce a little bit sweeter.

Season with salt to taste but keep in mind that feta can be quite salty and you will be stirring some through to serve. 

Serve in bowls sprinkled with feta and more crushed red pepper and parsley, if desired.  

Enjoy! 

Need more recipes with umami? Click on the links below! Many thanks to our host, Sue of Palatable Pastime.

• Umami Bomb Tomato Sauce from Making Miracles
• Steaks with Gouda Sauce from Amy's Cooking Adventures
• Tomato and Blue Cheese Salad from A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Cucumber Kimchi Salad from Palatable Pastime
• Chorizo Chickpea Tomato Pasta from Food Lust People Love
• Fried Chicken Wings - Korean Style from Sneha's Recipe
• Umami from the Sea: Sea Palm-Kale Salad and Uni Handrolls from Culinary Adventures with Camilla
• Patatas Bravas from Mayuri's Jikoni
• Easy Vegan Pad Thai from Cook with Renu

We are a group of food bloggers who believe that Sunday should be a family fun day, so every Sunday we share recipes that will help you to enjoy your day. If you're a blogger interested in joining us, just visit our Facebook group and request to join.

Pin this Chorizo Chickpea Tomato Pasta!

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Chorizo and Date Skewers - Brochetas de Chorizo y Datiles

Chorizo and date skewers or brochetas de chorizo y datiles are a fabulous combination of sweet and salty, rich and chewy. Best of all, they are simple and quick to put together.

A couple of months back we were in Atlanta for our nephew’s wedding. We arrived a couple of days early, thinking it would give us time to recover from the trip and also to spend some time with the relatives.

That first night we dropped our bags off at our hotel before heading to dinner at Eclipse de Luna, a tapas restaurant and one of their favorite places. My sister-in-law insisted upon ordering two plates of these little beauties because she wanted a whole skewer to herself. They are that good. The best part is that they are so simple to make at home.

This weekend I am in Orlando attending the fifth annual Food Wine Conference. I’m looking forward to all of the delicious food and the informative sessions but the best part is always the company of my colleagues at the Sunday Supper Movement and my fellow bloggers.

Just like last year, on Sunday evening we will gather for the last time at Tapa Toro, a lovely Spanish tapas restaurant for our live Twitter chat. For those of you who won’t be joining us, we thought it would be a good idea to share some tapas recipes, like these chorizo and date skewers. Scroll down to the bottom for more details.

Chorizo and Date Skewers or Brochetas de Chorizo y Datiles

Ingredients
9 3/4 oz or 275g Spanish chorizo, skin removed -  I like the extra picante.
12 Medjool dates, pitted
6 slices smoked bacon
1 3/4 oz or 50g blue cheese

Also needed:
6 wooden or metal skewers
6 toothpicks

Method
Preheat your oven to 375°F or 190°C.

Cut the chorizo into 18 pieces and line them up chorizo/date/chorizo/date/chorizo.

Poke the pointy end of the skewer through one end of the bacon and through one group of dates and chorizo.

Wrap the bacon around the end and secure it with a toothpick. Lay the chorizo and date skewers in a baking pan.

Bake in your preheated hot oven for about 10-12 minutes or until the bacon is cooked.

Remove from the oven and arrange two per plate on small saucers. Sprinkle with blue cheese crumbles.

Enjoy!

Many thanks to our event manager, Em, and this week's host, Christie of A Kitchen Hoor's Adventures for all of their hard work behind the scenes.

Small Starters

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Pint-sized Protein

• Bacon-wrapped Chorizo and Date Skewers – Brochetas de Chorizo y Datiles by Food Lust People Love
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Demi-Desserts

• Healthy Meringue Bites with Raspberry Yogurt by Cricket’s Confections
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• Lime Mascarpone Cheesecake Shooters by Caroline’s Cooking

Pin these chorizo date skewers!