Simple Fresh Tomato Pasta Sauce

At this time of year I am lucky enough to have a large number of fresh tomatoes to pick in the greenhouse every day. There are few ways of enjoying them that I prefer more than a sauce for spaghetti. Along with good olive oil, garlic, chilli and basil leaves this simple sauce is unctuous and packs a great deal of flavour.

On a low heat, in a good amount of olive oil, 4 tablespoons, fry 4 fat cloves of garlic roughly chopped. Fry the garlic gently until it begins to turn opaque and a light beige colour. Add a teaspoon, more if you like, of chilli flakes. I like using pasilla chillies, milder and with a great depth of flavour. Fry for a further minute before adding 400g of cherry tomatoes cut in half, 1 teaspoon of flaked sea salt 1/2 teaspoon of black pepper and 1/2 teaspoon of sugar. Fry gently for 10 to 15 minutes, just long enough to cook 500g of fresh spaghetti. The sauce will bubble down, producing an unctuous emulsified sauce. Toss in a handful of fresh basil leaves a couple of minutes before the pasta is cooked. I don't bother tearing them, I just pick them off their stalks and mix into the sauce.

This was half the quantity of sauce, I'm dining alone.

When the pasta is cooked, lift out of the water and add to the sauce along with any of the cooking water that is coating them, in other words, don't bother draining it. A grating of fresh parmesan and you have one of the simplest, yet one of the most delicious pasta dishes you could wish for.

Notes:
This quantity is enough to serve 2 hungry people for lunch and of course there was a delicious scraping out of the pan with a slice of bread for the cook afterwards.