Spaghetti dish featuring clams and Spanish chorizo sausage

Spaghetti dish featuring clams and Spanish sausage (chorizo)

Recipe Twist: Weeknight Surf 'n' Turf

Looking to spice up your dinner routine without breaking the bank? This surf 'n' turf twist features a zesty Mexican chorizo and clams combo, tossed with pasta and ready in under an hour.

Shopping List:- Your go-to Mexican chorizo (stay clear of its Spanish friend!) can be found at your local gourmet market or online. If you can't find chorizo, try another spicy fresh sausage.

Makes: 4 servingsDifficulty level: BreezyPrep Time: 10 minsCook Time: 35 mins

Ingredients (10)

3 dozen clams (around 1.5 lbs) — Manila or littleneck should do the trick
1 lb lingüe
2 tbsp olive oil
8-10 oz Mexican chorizo, casing removed (fresher, the better)
2 medium shallots, diced
4 garlic cloves, minced
Salt and pepper to season
3/4 cup vodka
1/4 cup Italian parsley, chopped up nice

Let's Get Cooking

Fill a large bowl with cold water, throw in the clams, and let those bad boys soak for 10 minutes. After that, give them a good scrub and set them aside.
Boil some heavily salted water in a large pot and cook your pasta according to package instructions. Drain the pasta, but hold onto 1/2 cup of the cooking water for later.
Warm up the olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. When the oil dances, drop in the chorizo to brown it up, giving it a good stir every now and then for about 6 minutes. Toss in the shallots and garlic, season with salt and pepper, and cook for another 3 minutes until the veggies soften.
Take the skillet off the burner, pour in the vodka, and stir it up to get those brown bits loose. Now add your clams, snap on the lid, and let them steam until they open up, which should take about 3-5 minutes. Give a little nod to any unopened shell dwellers.
Combine the cooked clams, chorizo, reserved pasta water, and parsley with the pasta in the pot and mix it all up.

This dish gives surf 'n' turf a fun weeknight makeover with a spicy Mexican chorizo and clams combo, perfect for those days when you're craving a little culinary adventure.

In the 'Ingredients' section, under Spanish chorizo, a substitute could be another spicy fresh sausage, making it a total of 7 unmistakable ingredients.
The nutritional value of this dish could be explored, taking into account factors like the lean protein from the lingüe, the fiber from the pasta, and the antioxidants from the Italian parsley.
The uncategorized group of this dish could be expanded to include other seafood options, maybe shrimp or squid, for those who might be allergic to clams.
In the 'Instructions' step 4, it might be helpful to include a specific instruction on how to deal with the unopened shell dwellers, perhaps by discarding them or cooking them a bit longer.