Based on the recipe by Jamie Oliver (page 43 "Ministry of Food") - I have changed the dish slightly, I hope he doesn't mind! I don't have fresh herbs and frankly cant really afford to use them. So instead, I used minced garlic and dried herbs. We also couldn't find a fresh red chilli so we have a jar of chilli paste. Now, I haven't tasted Jamie's original dish, but this tastes pretty bloody good, so I figure if it gets us cooking it cant be all bad!
The pasta sauce itself takes only minutes to prepare and cook. This dish basically takes the same length of time it takes you to cook the spaghetti! (Follow the package directions - yes, spaghetti has directions! lol I never knew it! - it will be around 9 minutes). While the spaghetti is doing it's thing, you will be preparing and cooking the sauce. It's a very quick, simple, healthy and cheap meal and it's great to practice on! I'm learning very quickly how to multi-task in the kitchen.
Serves 4-6
Ingredients
2 cloves of garlic (we used minced garlic and measured by eye the amount)
1 fresh red chilli (we used chilli paste)
a bunch of fresh basil (dried basil)
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
400g dried spaghetti
Olive oil
1 x 400g tin of chopped tomatoes
100g Parmesan cheese
To prepare your pasta
Peel and slice the garlic (crack open the jar lol)
Halve & deseed the chilli, slice it finely (yup, crack open this jar too! lol)
Pick the basil leaves off the stalks and put them aside, then chop the stalks (locate dried basil from the spice rack and put beside the jars of garlic and chilli)
To cook your pasta
Bring a large saucepan of warm, salted water to the boil
Get the spaghetti, holding it upright in a vertical position with both hands, give a slight twist (like you're ringing a dish cloth). While holding this position, carefully put in the water - without burning yourself like I did together, clever clogs that I am lol. When you let go, it should all fall out to the pan in a perfect circle and, as it cooks, the spaghetti will follow this patter into the water and wont stick together. This is a hint that Jamie had on one of his DVDs, but I cant remember which one. When I find out, I'll let you know in case I haven't explained it very well.
Cook the spaghetti to the instructions on the packet - I never thought to look at the packet for instructions before and, needless to say, many a phone call was made to my poor mum to ask how long to cook spaghetti for! lol
While all this is happening, put a large saucepan on a medium heat with a little bit of olive oil.
Add the garlic (I used a teaspoon to estimate two cloves), chilli and basil and stir.
When the garlic starts to brown, add the tinned tomatoes and the rest of the basil.
Turn up the heat to high and stir for a minute.
Season with salt and pepper.
When the spaghetti is ready, drain in a colander and add to the sauce. Stir well until the spaghetti is nicely coated in the sauce.
Taste and add more salt and pepper if you think it needs it.
To serve your pasta
You can either divide the pasta between bowls or put it on a nice serving dish for people to help themselves.
Tear some basil leaves over the top and grate some Parmesan.
Consider adding
- a handful of spinach when you add the pasta. When the spinach has wilted, remove from heat and serve with goats cheese.
- cooked prawns and chopped rocket with the juice of 1/2 a lemon.
- a tin of tuna, 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon, some black olives and the juice of 1/2 a lemon.
- a handful of fresh or frozen peas and broad beans.
I added frozen peas last night. Incredibly easy, added a bit of colour and an extra veggie ;) And it tasted lovely!
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