Tagliatelle with tomato sauce, spinach and crumbled ricotta

If you’re making your own pasta, then now’s the time to cut your sheet of pasta into 20cm/8 inch lengths. Dust well with flour. Fold in half, fold in half again and then once more, dusting with flour each time. Cut into 1cm (1/2 inch) and you have your tagliatelle. Make a cage with your fingers and shake until the pasta separates out.

Fry the garlic and dried chilli in a little olive oil until softened. Add the tomatoes, bring to the boil, then reduce the heat to a simmer. The tomatoes should remain whole until they have cooked down into a thickish sauce. Break them up with a fork or spoon. Remove from the heat and season carefully to taste with a little red wine vinegar, salt, freshly ground black pepper and some good olive oil.

Cook the tagliatelle in salted boiling water until al dente. At the same time steam the spinach in a colander above the pasta. Drain the tagliatelle and stir into the tomato sauce. Serve with a generous amount of spinach on top and scattered with the ricotta. Finish with a drizzle of peppery extra virgin olive oil.

• from Return Of The Naked Chef