Looking for something spicy, yet comforting tonight? I love Italian food and I love Mexican food, but why can’t I have them both in one meal? This delicious smoky and spicy meat sauce may be the ticket. Using the common technique of making a from-scratch red sauce, we are going to be making a chorizo version. Mexican chorizo breaks down fast, so this sauce cooks up in no time. Chipotles and cumin add smoky elements to this sauce, almost resembling shakshuka. A meaty, tangy tomato sauce tossed with fresh herbs and citrus. Like any good pasta, it’s all about the cheese. This is a perfect place for feta. Salty, briny, and flavor-packed cheese saves all pasta.

Unlike traditional red sauces that stew on the stovetop for hours, meat sauces tend to come together much faster. What we’re doing when we cook tomatoes on the stovetop that long is we’re developing flavor. Tomatoes are very watery vegetables and they take time to concentrate the flavor, so we slowly evaporate/cook the water out. Meat on the other hand adds a base flavor profile to the sauce. Less time and cooking are involved, the more infusing and layering of flavors is necessary. A 20-minute sauce to remember.

With a quick-cooking tomato sauce like this, layering flavor is everything. Fresh herbs, citrus juice, and finishing olive oils layer beautifully alongside tomato-based pasta sauces like this. Cilantro & basil pair beautifully together and were the main inspiration for this dish. If you’re not on team feta, focus on the salty funky cheese like parmesan or Pecorino Romano.

As always, finish with lots of fresh herbs and CHEESE!