Spanish Chicken with Chorizo and Potatoes (recipe by Nigella Lawson)

The other day I was looking for a fast and tasty dinner so I opened Nigella Lawson's most recent cookboook (yes, I bought all of them, I love how she writes!). Without further ado, here are the ingredients:

- 1 tbsp olive oil

- 6 chicken thighs, bone in, with skin

- 1 lb chorizo sausages, cut into 1 1/2 inch chunks

- 1 lb baby white-skinned potatoes, halved

- 1 red onion, peeled and roughly chopped

- 1 tsp dried oregano

- grated zest from one orange

Preheat the oven to 425F. Put the oil on the bottom of a shallow roasting pan and rub the skin of the chicken in oil, then turn skin-side up. Add the chorizo sausage chunks and the baby potatoes. Sprinkle the onion and the oregano over, then grate the orange zest over the meat, potatoes and onion.

Cook for 1 hour; after 30 minutes baste the contents with the orange-coloured juices.

And that's it!

Any leftovers can be used for quesadilla, says Nigella. I didn't have any, so please share with me your experiences!

Young Eggplants Stuffed with Italian Sausage

For this Turkish-inspired dish I used a recipe in which I substituted the beef meat for Italian sweet sausages. It was a very flavorful and interesting twist!

- 4 small eggplants (baby eggplants are just fine)

- 0.8 lb Italian sausage meat (casings removed)

- 1 medium yellow onion

- 1 bell pepper (I used a red one)

- 2 cloves of garlic

- 1 large tomato (can be replaced with canned tomatoes)

- 4 tbsp olive oil

- 1 small bunch of parsley, chopped

- salt and pepper to taste

- sweet or hot paprika (optional)

Sausage-stuffed Cornish Hen

This is meant for 1-2 servings. For two persons, cut the hen in half along the breast and backbones.

Ingredients:

- 1 Cornish hen (livers reserved, if included), at room temperature

- 2 tablespoons olive oil

- 1 tablespoon unsalted butter

- 1 garlic clove, finely chopped

- 1 shallot (I used 3 scallions), finely chopped

- 1/4 pound sausage, casings removed

- 1 large egg, lightly beaten

- 2 tablespoons minced fresh parsley (I omitted that)

- salt and freshly ground pepper

Centre a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 425F.

Heat the olive oil and the butter in an oven-going skillet over medium-heat. Toss in the garlic and shallot/onion and stir everything around for minute or so.

My Pasta with Ragu Sauce

Today was so, so cold, my daughter wanted her one of her favourite comfort foods: pasta with meat sauce. Instead of making the usual ragu, I simplified it and substituted sweet Italian sausage meat for the veal/pork/pancetta mix.

I finely chopped 2 medium yellow onions, grated 2 large garlic cloves and put everything to sweat in 2 tablespoon of olive oil combined with one tablespoon of butter.

After approximately 5 minutes I added the meat from 4 sausage links (casings off), then sprinkled some paprika on it

I stirred the meat until was browned on all sides, about 15 minutes, then I poured in about a cup of red wine, one cup tomato sauce and added one tablespoon tomato paste. I let everything simmer on low heat for about one hour. No salt or pepper were necessary for my taste.

When the meat sauce was ready, I boiled the pasta in salty water, then assembled everything together, adding a sprinkle of dry basil on top.

And that's it!