Taco Pasta

I love Mexican food, like, a lot.

Last night I was home alone because Jay abandoned me to eat beef jerky on the couch with his hand down his pants next to his bff, Adam. Or, something like that.

I managed to survive, but when thinking of what to make for dinner, all I really wanted was sour cream. That's all. Sour cream.

Since I couldn't just eat that (could I have?), and didn't want to wait for rice to cook, I decided to make this Mexican pasta. It's SO easy and fast to make and you'll just love it. Aaaand....if you don't cover your food with sour cream and cheese like I do, it's pretty healthy!

So, mine wasn't all that healthy.

Taco Pasta

Measurements aren't overly important for this meal, so don't fret too much about that - it's hard to mess up!

For two servings:

⅓ box short-cut pasta
½ bell pepper
1 jalapeno or other small hot pepper
½ small onion
paprika
cumin
chili powder
chorizo
shredded chicken (optional)
1 clove minced garlic
tomato puree or paste
wine or beer
chicken stock

Toppings

shredded cheese
salsa
sour cream
guacamole
chopped tomato
pickled jalapenos
chopped olives

See where this is headed? We're just making tacos! This is a great fun idea for entertaining - make the pasta plain and let people add in their own veggies and toppings. Fun!

Turn a pot of water to high heat, and cook the pasta to al dente when the water boils.

Meanwhile, heat some olive oil in a large pan (for the sauce) and add the chorizo. This is the vegan stuff leftover from the last time I made absolutely delicious DIY Argentinean BBQ. If you're not into chorizo you can skip this step and just use chicken or ground beef or leave it ALL out and make this a vegetarian meal!

While the chorizo is browning, cut up your veggies. I had a hot banana pepper from the farmer's market, and it was spicy but not too hot. Use whatever pepper you have, and if you don't have any and like spicy food add a sprinkle of crushed red pepper.

After the chorizo browns for about 5 minutes, add in the peppers and onions and stir around, then gather up your spices.

I used 1 teaspoon each, and it was fabulous. Double it if you're making pasta for a crowd!

Stir this around for about 3 minutes until the veggies have started to soften and the spices are all incorporated. Then, add in the tomatoes (paste, crushed, puree, WHATEVER) and the garlic.

I meant it when I said whatever! This is actually.....jarred marinara sauce. I had it leftover and forgotten in my fridge and the thought of using a can opener was JUST TOO MUCH for me, so I dumped in some of the marinara sauce. It worked great! Stir for a few more minutes....

Then add half a cup to a cup of wine or beer. I would have preferred beer, but Jay done drank it all, the butthead. Wine's fine though!

Stir the wine around for a minute to let some of it evaporate, and then add some chicken stock or pasta water to make the sauce.

Oh, this is so good. This is where you'd add shredded cooked chicken, right at the end to heat through. Taste the sauce and see if it needs more salt or spices, then stir in the pasta.