Chorizo, Zucchini, and Cannellini Bean Orecchiette

Over the last few weeks the CSA has yielded a few zucchinis each week and I’ve been trying to come up with interesting ways to cook it. Adam and I both love zucchini, but it can get a bit boring if you eat it the same way each time. I’ve tried a few new things recently and it seems to me that zucchini can take pretty much anything I throw at it! Besides this recipe I also have one for stuffed round zucchini . . . but we’ll leave that one for next time. Today it’s all about this super-quick, super-flavorful dish: Chorizo, Zucchini, and Cannellini Bean Orecchiette.

Chorizo easily has to be up there as one of my top-10 favorite things to eat. This particular kind came from D’Espana, a tiny Spanish (as in “from Spain,” not just “Spanish-speaking”) specialty grocery store/sandwich shop in Little Italy.

If you’re ever in the area and looking for a quick bite, I cannot say enough about their Chorizo and Manchego sandwich, it’s absolutely delicious! And a deal at only $8 for a huge sandwich (I can hear some of you gasping at the thought of an $8 sandwich, but that’s actually pretty good for this neighborhood!). And while you wait for your sandwich to be made you can look at all the cool stuff they import from Spain, including awesome cheeses, olives, many different pickled things, vinegar, etc etc. And chorizo, of course! They even let you sample some of the oils and vinegars, which are all amazing.

But anyway, I digress. I was supposed to be talking about chorizo! If you’ve ever bought chorizo and been surprised at how different it looked from the last version you had, there’s good reason: chorizo comes in tons of varieties! For this recipe I used Spanish chorizo (obviously), which is very different from Mexican chorizo or Portuguese chorizo or Argentinian chorizo. You can get a good idea of the different kinds by going to the Wikipedia page on Chorizo. Growing up we usually ate Argentinian-style chorizo and I still have fond memories of eating deliciously simple sandwiches consisting of nothing other than grilled chorizo wrapped in fresh white bagette-style bread . . . just thinking about it makes my mouth water! As you can probably tell, I could talk about chorizo forever . . .

One of the really important differences to note between chorizo types is that not all of them are cooked when you buy them. Spanish chorizo is one of the cooked varieties, but I find that browning it in a frying pan is well worth the extra effort. The caramelized and crispy outsides have an even stronger, more zesty flavor, and the texture difference is really nice when you bite into a chunk, too. You definitely want to slice the chorizo to about 1/4th or 1/3rd inch thick and no thicker, otherwise you lose the benefit of browning the slices first. Any thinner and you end up with all crispy edges and no middle, which isn’t actually bad but doesn’t give you that contrast I was going for. I do like it sliced really thinly to make a chorizo-only tapas dish though, and thinking about it now is making me want to go out and buy more to make that tonight!

Can you tell I’m writing this while hungry?

This is what you’re looking for on the chorizo:

Nicely browned (even black) spots and curling casings. Yum.

If you want to be compulsive like me, watch to make sure that all the slices are flat on the pan, and flip them over half-way, making sure the other sides lay flat in the pan as well. Resit the urge to dump all the chorizo in at once — if you do, it will steam instead of browning. I used 5 links for this recipe and cooked them in two batches, alternating browning the chorizo batches with browning the zucchini batches:

Since the chorizo releases a good amount of oil, no additional oil is needed to brown the zucchini as long as you alternate like I did. Definitely don’t crowd the zucchini, or you’ll end up with zucchini mush! You’re looking for the zucchini pieces to still be crunchy but to have mellowed their flavor and gained a tasty crust.

When all the zucchini and chorizo is browned, you end up with a huge pile of delicious:

Quickly warm up the can of beans and toss everything together:

Drizzle lemon juice, olive oil, and a bit of pasta water in, toss with the pasta, and top with cilantro.

Then EAT UP!

Orecchiette with Chorizo, Zucchini, and Cannellini Beans
Serves 4-6

• 3 cloves garlic, sliced
• 5 chorizo links (about 1 pound), sliced 1/4 to 1/3 inch thick
• 2 medium zucchinis, split down the middle and then sliced 1/4 inch thick
• 1 pound oricchiette or other pasta, cooked per package directions & reserving 1/2 cup cooking liquid
• 1 15oz can cannellini beans, rinsed and drained
• Juice of 1 lemon
• Handful of chopped cilantro leaves, about 2 tbsp (optional)

In a large skillet, heat up 2 tablespoons olive oil over medium heat and cook garlic for about 2 minutes. Add half the chorizo and brown. Remove chorizo to plate and add half the zucchini to pan (do not wipe!), browning both sides of zucchini. Remove to plate. Repeat with 2nd half of chorizo and 2nd half of zucchini.

If the pan looks dry, add a drizzle of olive oil to it, then add the beans. Let them heat up for about 1 minute, then add chorizo and zucchini back into pan. Squeeze lemon over everything and toss. Add pasta to mixture and toss to mix. Add reserved pasta water to taste to add some moisture to the dish, then drizzle with a bit more olive oil. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Add cilantro on top and toss. Serve immediately.

Tagged as: beans, chorizo, latin-inspired cooking, Pasta, quick weeknight dinner, zucchini