Chicken and chorizo sausage pasta bake loaded with buffalo mozzarella and a delicious golden breadcrumb and Parmesan cheese topping.
This delicious dish is nice and easy to make and cooks in around an hour, but it can be prepared in advance and baked when you are ready to eat.
Cheesy Baked Pasta with Chicken and Sausage
You may be forgiven for thinking that I have a bit of a food crush on Spanish chorizo sausage. You would be right!
I use it all of the time; it is delicious, and it can sprinkle a load of magic on an incredible array of dishes.
It's just at home in fancy dishes like my pan-fried hake with samphire and chorizo as it is in homely fodder like my shakshuka with chorizo.
We are at the "homely" end of the spectrum with this chicken and chorizo pasta bake recipe.
Using a Spanish sausage may seem odd with an ingredient that is so often thought of as Italian.
But it works wonderfully, and good Chorizo is easier for me to find than good Italian cured sausage.
I've kinda got form on this too because this recipe joins a chicken and chorizo risotto, chicken and chorizo rice and another spicy chicken and chorizo pasta recipe.
This dish is wonderful, easy, tastes glorious and will go from your fridge to your table in right around an hour.
If you like this dish, you will love my meaty pasta al forno recipe!
Frequently Asked Questions
Are Mexican chorizo and Spanish chorizo sausages the same?
This question often gets asked by visitors to my site from the US. The answer is no.
Mexican chorizo is a fresh sausage, whereas Spanish Chorizo is a cured sausage. You could get away with using fresh sausage, but it would fundamentally change it.
Can I use an onion rather than a shallot?
You can, but this is very much an onion "light" sauce, and you will likely only need a quarter of an onion. Onions are also often more difficult to chop as finely as a shallot.
Can I use firm mozzarella rather than buffalo mozzarella?
Yes, but like the question about chorizo above, it will very much change the dish.
Can I make this in advance?
Yes, you can make it up to a couple of days in advance if stored correctly (unbaked) in the fridge. I would not sprinkle on the Parmesan/breadcrumb topping until you are ready to bake it.
Can I freeze this?
Yes, I would freeze this before it is baked, and again, I would not add the cheese and breadcrumb topping until it is ready to bake.
It will be fine in the fridge for 3-4 months, but the flavours will degrade a little.
You can cook it from frozen. I would cover it with foil and cook at 170°C or 340°C for 40-45 minutes. Then remove the foil, sprinkle over the crumb topping and turn the heat up to 200°C or 390°F for 20-25 minutes.
Serving Suggestions
The biggest serving choice that you have with this recipe is the type of pasta that you use.
I like to use some form of macaroni or elbow macaroni for this dish, but this uses lumaca rigata, which is very similar.
But you could use everything from penne to fusilli if you wanted!
This chicken and chorizo pasta bake is a hearty old dish, so hearty you may be able to squeeze out some leftovers if you are slightly less greedy than me.
As a result, I'd stick to something pretty light on the side, maybe a slice or two of garlic bread or cheesy garlic bread. Then some nicely dressed salad leaves, and I'd call it a day.
Equipment Used
I only mention brands of equipment if I think that they make a material difference to a recipe. But if you have any questions, feel free to ask them in the comments section below the recipe.
- Hob/Stovetop.
- Oven.
- 30cm or 12" frying pan.
- 20cm or 8" saucepan.
- 25cm x 15cm (10" x 6") baking dish.
- Stirring and serving spoons.
- Colander.
- Chopping board.
- Kitchen knife.
- A combination of weighing scales, measuring cups and spoons.
Chicken and Chorizo Pasta Bake Recipe
Ingredients
- 250 g Boneless Skinless Chicken Thighs 9oz
- 100 g Spanish Chorizo Sausages 3½oz
- 1 Small-Medium Echalion or Banana Shallot 35g
- 3 Garlic Cloves
- 1 tablespoon Cooking Oil
- 225 g Tin Chopped Tomatoes 8oz
- 1 teaspoon Dried Oregano
- ¼ teaspoon Dried Chilli Flakes
- ⅛ teaspoon Sugar
- ¼ teaspoon Salt + Extra for Boiling Pasta
- ¼ teaspoon Black Pepper
- 175 g Short Dried Pasta 6oz
- 125 g Buffalo Mozzarella 4oz
- 35 g Grated Parmesan Cheese ⅓ Cup
- 25 g Dried Breadcrumbs 3-4 Tbsp
Instructions
- Cut the chicken into a 1.5cm (just over ½") dice.
- Cut the chorizo sausage into 3-4mm (⅛") thick rings.
- Cut the shallot in half, peel it and dice it as finely as you can.
- Peel and chop the garlic as finely as you can.
- Heat a 30cm or 12" frying pan over a medium-low heat, add the cooking oil and chorizo sausage and gently cook it for 5-7 minutes to get the oils flowing.
- Turn the heat up to medium, throw in the diced chicken and cook for 2-3 minutes.
- Add the garlic and shallots and cook for another 2 minutes.
- Pour in the tinned tomatoes and add the oregano, chilli flakes, sugar, black pepper and salt, give everything a stir, reduce the heat to low and add a lid, then cook for as long as it takes to cook the pasta.
- Cook the pasta in a 20cm or 8" saucepan of boiling salted water (I use 1½ teaspoons of salt in a pan this size) until al dente.
- Tear the buffalo mozzarella into strips.
- When the pasta has boiled drain it, reserving 3-4 tablespoons of the cooking liquid, and stir the pasta through the sauce add as much of the cooking liquid as needed to form a nice coating.
- Stir through the torn-up mozzarella cheese.
- Transfer to a 25x15cm (10x6") baking dish.
- Mix the breadcrumbs with the grated Parmesan cheese and sprinkle it over the Parmesan and breadcrumb mix and bake at 200°C or 400°F for 25 minutes.
