Weeknight Tomato Pasta

If I had to name the recipe I cook most often, this would be it. It's the dish I make when the fridge is bare, when I'm too tired to think, and when guests show up and announce they're hungry.

The trick — and there is one — is finishing the pasta in the sauce with a splash of pasta water. That's how you get the glossy, clinging texture instead of pasta sitting in a puddle.

Ingredients

Instructions

1. Bring a large pot of well-salted water to the boil. Cook the pasta one minute short of the package directions.
2. While the pasta cooks, heat the olive oil in a wide pan over medium-low. Add the garlic and chilli flakes and cook gently for 2 minutes — you want fragrant, not browned.
3. Crush in the whole tomatoes with your hands, add a good pinch of salt, and simmer for 8–10 minutes until thickened.
4. Reserve a cup of pasta water, then transfer the drained pasta straight into the sauce with a splash of the cooking water. Toss vigorously for a minute until the sauce coats every strand.
5. Tear in the basil, finish with black pepper, and serve with plenty of Parmesan.

Cooking tips

• Whole tinned tomatoes give a fresher flavour than pre-chopped — crush them yourself.
• Pasta water is liquid gold. The starch is what turns oil and tomato into a proper sauce.
• A drizzle of good olive oil at the very end lifts the whole bowl.

More like this

For more from this section, browse our main dishes recipes or the full collection.