Chorizo, lemon and basil

Last night it came around to me to cook dinner for my Connect Group (aka known as a bible study group). So I thought I'd share an Ali special. I opted for quick and easy, because if dinner takes too long, then everything that comes after blows out into over-time (and I didn't fancy cooking in advance and lugging the finished meal about for a re-heat).

I've made this up after dinner at a friend's house, and I think the original came from a Donna Hay cook book, but I don't know which one.

This is what you need for about four people:

1 packet spaghetti

3 chorizo sausages

A bunch of basil

The zest of one lemon (use a fine grater or zester)

A punnet (or two) of cherry tomatoes

And last night I added a few zucchinis for more greenery

You can slice the chorizo and fry it, or put it on foil on a tray in the oven for about 20 minutes. I also put the tomatoes, cut in half, in the oven, just to warm them up a bit (and I put the sliced zucchini in there too). Then you just cook the spaghetti (obviously), pull all the basil leaves off and leave them whole, zest the lemon and then stir it all through the cooked spaghetti.

It might sound odd, and it's not the sort of meal I eat too often because chorizo can't be too high up on the health food scale, but you have to try chorizo, lemon and basil together to understand. And don't ruin it by adding a whole pile of other flavours (if you're one of those cooks who can't help adding a little bit of everything in your fridge). Instead of the tomatoes and zucchini the original had roast capsicum in each of the three colours, but I can rarely be bothered roasting and skinning capsicum (and that would increase the cost). Chorizo is usually around $20 a kilo, but Tuesday night was my lucky night because it was going for $9 a kilo, so I loaded it in - and I use the raw sausages from the supermarket, but you could possibly also use the cured smoked sort from a small goods vendor.

It's good.