Pasta with tomatoes and chilli

Serves 4

• 400g dried pasta
• 500g tinned whole plum tomatoes
• 190g olive oil
• 3 cloves garlic
• 1 red chilli
• 0.5 tsp caster sugar
• 0 pepper

Step 1
Strain the tinned tomatoes through a colander (the juice tends to be acidic and makes the sauce too wet – set aside for another use).

Step 2
Heat a glug of olive oil on a low-to-medium heat in a heavy-bottomed saucepan.

Step 3
Add the garlic and chilli and fry until just starting to change colour, then add the strained tomatoes and stir.

Step 4
After 5 minutes, turn the heat down to low, add the 190ml olive oil and the sugar and simmer for 2 hours.

Step 5
Stir and scrape the bottom of the pan occasionally to make sure the sauce doesn’t catch.

Step 6
Taste and check for seasoning, You can store this sauce in a sealed container in the fridge for up to 5 days.

Step 7
Bring lots of water to a rolling boil in a large pan and add plenty of salt – it should taste like mild sea water.

Step 8
Add the pasta and cook until al dente.

Step 9
When the pasta is cooked, add a splash of pasta cooking water to the pan of tomato sauce and put the sauce on a low heat.

Step 10
Remove the pasta from the water and add it to the pan of sauce – keep the cooking water.

Step 11
Vigorously toss the pasta in the pan for at least 30 seconds to work the gluten, adding a splash more starchy cooking water if it starts to dry up.

Step 12
Continue tossing the pasta until the sauce emulsifies to a viscous sauce.

Step 13
Serve immediately.