Recipes

STEP 01

Fill a saucepan 3/4 full of water and put it on the hob to boil.

STEP 02

Chop up the onion:  Chop the two ends off first, then chop it in half.  Put on half to one side to use for another day.  Peel off the flaky skin and the first layer of the onion.  (It should be the layer that comes off the easiest.)   Chop this up into small pieces.  The best way to do it is by chopping it in slices, then turning the onion around 90 degrees and chop it again into smaller bits.  (See the podcast to see how it's done).

STEP 03

Chop up the garlic.  Chop the two small ends off first.  Now the easy way to peel the skin off:  Turn your knife on it's side, so that the side of the blade is facing upwards.  Carefully, but firmly press down on the garlic, crushing it slightly.  Now the skin should just fall away.  Now chop the garlic into little bits.

STEP 04

Once the water's boiling (bubbling a lot) throw in a pinch of salt.  This adds a little flavour to the pasta.  Add your pasta in.  Get a spoon and just give it a bit of a stir.  This stops the pasta sticking to the bottom of the pan.

Now, get your saucepan and put it on the hob.  Turn on the heat to full blast.  After about a minute, drizzle a bit of olive oil into the pan.  (Count to 1 second while you pour it in, that's roughly the amount you want in there).

STEP 05

Move the pan around in a circular motion so that the oil moves all over the pan, coating it well.

STEP 06

Add your onions and stir.  Make sure they all get coated in the oil. 

Now add your garlic and stir that into the onions.  Continue frying for about 5 minutes or until the onions look soft.

STEP 07

Add your half a tin of chopped tomatoes, and stir well, coating the onions and garlic.

After a minute, turn down the heat to just above half way.  We still want the chopped tomatoes to have a bit of liquid to them, not too dry.

STEP 08

Get yourself a drink, watch a bit of telly for five minutes, giving the pasta and the sauce a stir every so often.

STEP 09

After five minutes, it's now time to check the pasta.  Get a fork and carefully get a bit of pasta out.  Taste it (remember to blow on it as it will be hot...)  You want it soft, but still a little firm.  Not soft and squidgy, and not hard, somewhere in between.

STEP 10

If it's still too hard, leave it for another minute.  If not, take the pan off the heat and drain the water through a colander.

STEP 11

Gently shake it to get rid of any excess water, then carefully pour the pasta out onto a plate.

STEP 12

Your tomato sauce should be finished now too, so carefully spoon that on top of the pasta.

STEP 13

Sprinkle a pinch or two of mixed herbs over the top and eat.

If you wanted to add a few more things to it, try grating some parmesan on top just before you serve, or adding olives, capers, chopped anchovies or a few chillis to the tomato sauce when it's cooking. 

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