- serves 4, £1.19* per serving
Few dishes bring me as much joy in the summer as pasta with cherry tomato sauce. It has been a true staple of my warm-weather cooking for as long as I can remember. Although there may be small variations in the supporting ingredients, the heart of the dish always remains the same: really good extra virgin olive oil and vibrant tomatoes.
I almost always have a punnet of cherry tomatoes in the fridge in summer, which is handy because larger ones just don’t deliver the same results. Cherry tomatoes are naturally sweet and juicy, with a more concentrated flavour and lower water content. They also contain more pectin (a natural thickening agent) than bigger varieties, which means they emulsify with the olive oil to create a rich, velvety sauce.
In this recipe, I’ve added salty pancetta, of which a little goes a long way. If you are looking for a vegetarian option, try replacing it with a couple of tablespoons of capers, torn black olives or chopped sun-dried tomatoes – anything that brings a briny, umami hit. Alternatively, you could skip the shallot and pancetta and just add some thinly sliced garlic for the simplest take on this sauce. As with most tomato- based pastas, a few torn basil leaves and a showering of grated parmesan provide the perfect finishing touches.
160g diced pancetta (smoked or unsmoked), £2.38; 250g cherry tomatoes, 62p
360g spaghetti, 75p; 4 round shallots, £1
METHOD
Finely dice the shallots. Heat 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil in a large frying pan, add the shallots and pancetta, and fry over a medium heat for 6-7 minutes until the shallot softens and the pancetta is golden.
Quarter the tomatoes and add to the pan with a pinch of salt, turning up the heat a notch. Fry for another 6-7 minutes until they have broken down a little.
Meanwhile, cook the pasta in a large pan of salted boiling water for a minute less than the packet instructions. Scoop out a mugful of the cooking water before draining.
Tip the drained pasta into the frying pan with the tomatoes and pancetta. Add a glug of the cooking water and toss everything over the heat for a minute.
Divide between plates and top with plenty of parmesan and a few torn basil leaves, if you have them. Season with ground black pepper and serve.
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*This cost assumes you already have some basic store-cupboard ingredients. prices taken from aldi and correct at time of going to press.
