Courgette and Mushroom with Red Pepper Pasta Sauce

This is a variation of the Pea Pimento & Prosciutto Recipe. I was trying to cook the recipe to validate it for the site, and as usual I cooked free style with not all the ingredients on hand. But I was quite happy with the result and hopefully will inspire you for a creation of your own. I made it once completely vegetarian, which was nice, but I like a little chorizo in it. I also really missed the tangy tomato flavor of a traditional pasta sauce. So I added a little.

• 9 - 10 (a good handful) mushrooms sliced
• 2 Courgette /Zucchini, sliced
• 250g chorizo, sliced (about 3 smaller ones)
• 300g small pasta shapes such as fricelli or substitute penne, I used spirals not that you can see it
• 1½ cups pimiento pasta sauce
• small tin of tomato pureé or even smaller amount of tomato paste
• 1 cup white wine, I used a dry riesling
• fresh Oregano (dried herbs if you must)
• Salt & freshly ground pepper
• optional but reccomended lump of butter

If using chorizo I would fry up first just browning, I love browning all meat before effectively stewing. Adds a good flavor. You can see my red pepper sauce reducing away in the background of the following image.

 

Then remove from pan and set aside until we're ready to add the sauces. Satué mushrooms and courgette together with the nob of butter, the mushrooms just soak up the butter. Yes the butter adds extra calories and all that but the fat helps carry the flavour, especially if you're going for the veg option.

 

When sufficiently yummy looking combine everything. Cup of wine of your choice (red will be nice also) after you get one for yourself, then add a cup of wine to the pan. The red pepper sauce, how ever much tomato paste you see fit. Put on the lowest of low tempratures and wait while the flavours develop. Add Oregano right at the end, I find this herb to be slightly more delicate than something like rosmary which would also go nicly. Rosemary however can be added with the sauces at the begining, and allowed to seep its flavor into the dish. A handful of Oregano leaves stired in at the end before serving, will allow you to stumble upon sweet savoury pieces of hebs as you devour this meal. Save a little Oregano to ganish with at the end, if you want to get fancy. Oh and I missed out chesse, feel free to add some chesse on top.