Classic flavours come together in a tomato pasta dish with loads of flavour

This is a quick and light dish that has become my go-to when hungover, as it’s so easily pulled together.

Easy and can be done ahead: rigatoni pomodoro. Photo: Mark Roper.

This is a quick and light dish that has become my go-to when hungover, as it’s so easily pulled together. It’s also something the kids are always happy to eat.

Try too my every day spaghetti and my tagliolini with spanner crab and zucchini.

Andreas Papadakis. Photos: Mark Roper.

Tomato to the rescue.

Rigatoni pomodoro

Ingredients

• 5 tablespoons olive oil, plus extra to serve
• 1 small clove of garlic, finely grated
• 200ml Napoli tomato sauce, see below
• 225g quality dried rigatoni
• 2 tablespoons finely grated parmesan
• 4-5 basil leaves

Method

1. Warm the olive oil in a pan over medium-low heat, add the garlic and cook gently until the garlic has just softened but not coloured. Add the tomato sauce and bring to a slow simmer.
2. In the meantime, cook the rigatoni in plenty of boiling salted water until al dente, according to the instructions on the package.
3. Drain the pasta (reserving some of the pasta water) and add to the sauce, then toss everything together for 30 seconds until the pasta is well coated. Add the parmesan and basil and toss a couple more times, adding a little of the reserved pasta water to adjust the consistency of the sauce, if needed.
4. Serve in warmed bowls and finish with a drizzle of olive oil. Serves 2

Napoli tomato sauce

Ingredients

• ⅓ cup olive oil
• 1 brown onion, finely diced
• 2 cloves of garlic, crushed
• 3 x 400g tins of peeled tomatoes, ideally San Marzano
• 2-3 sprigs basil leaves
• Sea salt

Method

1. Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan over medium-low heat, then add the onion and garlic and cook until soft and translucent, around 6 to 8 minutes.
2. Add the tomatoes and stir well, then bring to a slow simmer. Turn the heat down to low and cook for 1 hour, stirring occasionally to make sure the sauce doesn’t catch on the bottom. Taste and season with salt, then take off the heat and let the sauce rest for 15 minutes before you add the basil.
3. We normally pass this sauce through a vegetable mill while it’s still hot. If you don’t have one, you can just use a whisk to crush the tomatoes – don’t be tempted to blitz the sauce with a blender, or you’ll lose its pleasingly rustic texture. Makes 8 cups

This is an edited extract from Tipo 00: the Pasta Cookbook bu Andreas Papadakis.