Easy and versatile: pasta with chorizo and squid (or...)

Some years ago, Annalena and the Guyman used to frequent a Portuguese restaurant in their neighborhood, the wonderful Alfama. The only thing more wonderful than the restaurant were the owners: Miguel and Tarcizio. Let it not be denied that both of us had mancrushes on both of them, in different ways. For the details of that, you'll have to ask Annalena personally. Let us just say that Tarcizio's smile could melt you and Miguel's voice could do so as well.
As is so often the case with the NY restaurant scene, they lost their lease, and were gone for a good two years. The good news is: they're back. Bad news is, they're not in the neighborhood, so it's not that easy to say, anymore, "oh, let's just visit the boys." It calls for a trip and we will make that trip soon. Maybe as soon as the awful heat that is crushing NYC right now has abated.

Eating at Alfama introduced Annalena to Portuguese food, a cuisine she did not know beyond the Portuguese bread called "broa," and the ubiquitous "vinho verde" which, Miguel taught her quickly, was NOT where Portuguese wine began and ended. Discussing the learning curve on Portuguese cheeses is another story all together. Today, the subject is the very unkosher combinationa of pork, and shellfish, which Annalena learned about eating there.

Stepping back from things a little, the combination of pork, especially smoked or cured pork products, and shellfish, makes sense. The cured pork is ultimately a food of necessity: there's a lot of meat on a pig, and after it's been slaughtered, what do you do? Preservation was necessary, and because there is so much of it, it was not expensive. Shellfish, ultimately is "free food" if you live along a coast line. Clams, mussels, oysters, even scallops and, to some extent, lobster, either are or were there for the taking. So you would combine the two, simply to make something to eat.

Of course, there are religious rules against this combination, and this is not the place to discuss whether they are right or wrong. Food taboos go deep, and Annalena respects them, but politely demurs and says "if you don't want to eat the dish, don't eat it."

Food taboos are not the same as food dislikes. I know how many of you feel about .. squid (EWWWWWWW). I suspect that comes from having eaten it badly prepared. If you like to cook, I would really suggest you make this the first time, with the squid. If you don't like it, you can pull it out and still eat a good meal. I think you might like it though. THis is inspired by thoughts of Miguel and Tarcizio, although I doubt severely if one could call this "Portuguese."

You will need one pound of chorizo sausage, one pound of small squid, with the tentacles, and a half pound of a pasta that has a blocky shape to it. I used fusilli, but rigatoni, shells, anything along those lines would probably work beautifully.

Most chorizos come in a skin that is not edible. To get rid of it, simply cut the tip off of one end of a sausage, run your knife down the length of the sausage, and then peel it off. Once you've done that, cut the sausage into rounds, and don't worry if it falls apart a bit. That's fine.
Chorizo is Spanish rather than Portuguese. There IS a Portuguese sausage that is wonderful, and use that if you can find it, or use any type of sausage you like. This time around, though, I ask you NOT to use chicken or turkey sausages as I don't think they will give you the depth of flavor you want.

You need not cut the squid tentacles, but you should slice the bodies into rounds, no bigger than half an inch across. And if squid are skeeving you, then use scallops. Or shrimps. Or clams. Or mussels. For the latter two, pay attention to the variation in cooking I discuss below. If you use the squid, wash them in cold water and shake off as much as you can. If clams or mussels, wash them if they seem sandy (Best way to wash them is to put them in a large bowl, cover with water, and then pull out the shellfish. The sand will stay behind.)

Now, get a big pan and put about two tablespoons of olive oil in it. Also, fill a pot with about 6 quarts of water, and start heating it, while you start heating the olive oil (this will all be done really quickly. ). When the oil is hot, add the chorizo. Don't move it around too much. You'll see the oil take on a red color from the spices in the sausage, and when the meat is beginning to brown, just a little, take out about half of it, and put it aside, and also, if it looks too oily to you, pour out some of that. (The reason you've cooked it all is because you need the amount of flavoring that it gives the oil. Use the left over sausage for something tasty like rice and beans, or eggs, or a sandwich or snacks)

If your water hasn't come to a boil yet, and you haven't put in your pasta and started cooking, then stop cooking for now, with anything but the clams and mussels. If you're using those, put the shellfish into the pan, raise the heat and cover the pan. Mussels will open faster, clams will take longer, but keep your eye on them.

For the softer shellfish, after you have cooked the pasta for about five minutes, turn the heat up and add the squid/shrimp/scallops. It will take no more than two minutes to cook to translucence, and that's all you want. When your pasta is al dente, drain it, and then combine it with your wonderful sauce.

There's no need to add seasonings here, because you've got plenty from the chorizo. If you use a milder sausage though, you may want to consider something like fennel, or basil, or rosemary, but keep in mind that your shellfish has a delicate taste, so don't overdo it.

It will take you less time to make this dish than it took you to read this post, from start to finish. You will have a very happy tummy when you're done. If you feel like putting vinho verde out with this, by all means, but to Annalena's pallete, this calls for zinfandel.

Enjoy ragazzi. And track down Alfama, and learn what Portuguese food is REALLY like.