Ancho chilli oil noodles

Ingredients

THE ANCHO CHILLI OIL

• 4 ancho chillies, tops ripped off and seeds poured out
• 4 tbsp red wine vinegar/ moscatel vinegar
• 1 tbsp light coloured raisins
• 4 tbsp agave syrup
• 40ml olive oil
• 1/2 tsp (or more to taste) maldon salt

THE PASTA

• Pasta of choice (I use wholemeal linguine, but you could use rice noodles or any other pasta)
• 2 tbsp ancho oil
• 2 tbsp plain yogurt of choice
• Salt

TO TOP

• 1 tbsp ancho oil
• 2 tbsp crunchy corn (1/2 crushed, 1/2 whole)
• Seasoning to taste

Method

1. Rip the tops off the chillies, pour out the seeds and discard of them.
2. Add them to a blender and blend until all are broken into pieces - you want them to be slightly larger than the normal size of chilli flakes
3. Add them to a heatproof bowl with the raisins, vinegar and salt and set aside.
4. Pour your olive oil into a small frying pan on medium heat. It should take 3-4 mins to heat up - my test is flicking a drop of water onto the oil - it will bubble when hot enough.
5. Take the oil off the heat, add to the chilli flake mix, and add the syru
6. Leave to infuse for at least 5 minutes, set aside.
7. Boil your pasta until al dente, then drain, leaving a couple of tbsp of pasta water in the pan.
8. Add 2 tbsp chilli oil to the pasta in the pan, then put back on high heat for about 30 seconds so the excess pasta water evaporates off.
9. Turn off the heat, then stir in 2 tbsp yogurt, or sour cream. Crush half your crunchy corn in a bag or a pestle and mortar.
10. Plate the pasta, then top with 1 more tbsp chilli oil, then add your crushed crunchy corn, and whole.
11. Season and serve.