pasta

cheat’s home-made pappardelle with quick tomato sauce

servings
2

method

Home-made pasta sauce is so easy, and you can sling it together in around the time it takes to open a jar and heat it up.

Heat a large frying pan over a medium heat and add a good few lugs of olive oil. When the oil’s hot, add the garlic and chili and fry until lightly coloured. Drop in most of the basil – stand back as it will crackle and spit in the oil – and then, after a few seconds, add the tomatoes. Bring to the boil and simmer for about 5 minutes. You’ll end up with a chunky sauce – if you like it smoother, pass the sauce through a coarse sieve. Taste the sauce and season with salt and pepper. Keep warm.

Bring a large pan of salted water to the boil. On a lightly floured work surface, cut the lasagne sheets into strips with a knife or a pastry wheel. When the water is at a rolling boil, add the pasta and cook for a few minutes until just al dente.

Drain the pasta strips in a colander, reserving a little of the cooking water.

Stir the pasta into the warm sauce. If it’s a bit thick, add a few spoonfuls of the cooking water to loosen it up. Sprinkle with freshly grated Parmesan cheese and the reserved basil leaves and serve immediately.

ingredients

• extra virgin olive oil
• 2 cloves of garlic, peeled and finely sliced
• ½–1 fresh red chilli, halved, deseeded and finely sliced
• a small bunch of fresh basil, leaves picked
• 1 x 400g can good-quality chopped tomatoes
• sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 250g fresh lasagne sheets
• freshly grated Parmesan cheese, to serve

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1. by phil on Sat 24 Dec 2011 @ 07:02

pucker tucker just cooked it, was awesome

2. by Nana on Thu 24 Nov 2011 @ 15:20

Hi, red chili like hot red chilli? Is this spicy? We have so many different kinds in the states I dont know wich one.

3. by Laura on Sat 19 Nov 2011 @ 17:40

What does this mean...... 1 x 400g can good-quality chopped tomatoes? Is this cups? ... ½–1 fresh red chilli, halved, deseeded and finely sliced Thank you.

4. by Smita on Thu 17 Nov 2011 @ 09:53

It looks yummy!!! I make pasta sauce at home all the time and love it just so :) without using tons of different ingredients. I just realized I add basil at the wrong point though... this recipe is just perfect for me and my family!

5. by zebra on Wed 02 Nov 2011 @ 18:07

looks gorge cant wait to try it

6. by jillian hallman on Mon 31 Oct 2011 @ 03:09

Quite deeeeelicious! (added a little oregano)! :-)

7. by Jamie Chan on Sun 16 Oct 2011 @ 07:33

Hi, this recipe looks very tasty, but can somebody tell me how many calories is in one serving?

8. by innocent fatima on Thu 18 Aug 2011 @ 14:04

very yummy pasta ..i loved it ..i try it first time and in first time i made it very delicious..!!

9. by innocent fatima on Thu 18 Aug 2011 @ 14:02

hmmmmm....such a gr8 pasta made in my home..YuMmy!!

10. by emma on Tue 02 Aug 2011 @ 21:49

I added some olives (stones out, just how you taught me) and a touch of meat. Tastes great :)

11. by Ida on Sun 10 Jul 2011 @ 08:59

Hi to answer Emma's question, if you want an authentic Italian sauce you need to use either a can of tomatoes or a bottle of pasta sauce. Using ketchup and tomato soup, will not give the true flavor of the dish, and in fact will be very bland in taste.

12. by Sue on Sat 02 Jul 2011 @ 14:37

Hi Jamie, thanks for the tasty and simple recipe. My hubby and my 2 young children enjoy the meatballs a lot. With your recipe, we have a sumptuous and fulfilling dinner. - from Singapore

13. by Emma Loosley on Mon 27 Jun 2011 @ 17:06

This dish looks very tasty! But as i do not have the ingredients to make the sauce i was wondering if i could make the sauce using a tin of tomato soup and ketchup? Would it still work? x

14. by jamie.r on Fri 10 Jun 2011 @ 10:36

does anyone know what is, or where to find, the nutritional information for this recipe?

15. by ghiaasmar on Thu 02 Jun 2011 @ 20:29

tastyy !!! ;) thx jamie <3<3<3

16. by F0oDiE on Thu 12 May 2011 @ 09:52

I love this recipe SO much! I'm in my teens but i love to cook. Usually when I make pasta sauces, there's like a ton of ingredients that are needed to make the sauce taste good. But i would NEVER have thought that so few ingredients and little instructions could make such a great sauce. And it's also really healthy because I use Extra Virgin Olive Oil and I do not put much cheese in because it tastes great without it. Thank you very much for this recipe = )

17. by Robert Voigt on Sun 10 Apr 2011 @ 15:10

Sounds great!

18. by zenonas on Mon 04 Apr 2011 @ 14:00

It was fantaaastic!! i loved it.. thnx Jamie!!

19. by Zizis power!! on Sun 03 Apr 2011 @ 18:38

I loved your recipe!! it was veery easy but delicious!! tnx!

20. by drdishabansal on Sat 19 Mar 2011 @ 08:06

i could never imagine cooking pasta at home! thanx a lot!!! i loved it!

21. by Mickee on Sun 16 Jan 2011 @ 14:28

♥ love this ♪♫♪

22. by sa5m on Tue 02 Nov 2010 @ 01:41

yum

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