Everyone needs a super quick pasta recipe in their repertoire for those days when you don't have the time or effort for something fancy. And this onion-free pasta sauce is just the ticket: lovely, tomatoey and homey. If you're used to resorting to sauce from a jar, it could save you money too!
(for a fancier onion-free option, check out my amatriciana with smoked lardons as it's to die for!)
Step 1
Crush and finely chop your garlic. Then heat the oil in a saucepan and add your black pepper, followed by your garlic. Keeping the heat low, stir and break up the garlic with a spoon as it fries for about a minute.
Step 2
Add the tomato puree and peeled plum tomatoes. (If the garlic is on the verge of browning, chuck the tinned tomatoes and purée in together, but ideally do it early enough that you can fry the purée for a few seconds in the garlic first).
Follow this with about half a cup of water.
Step 3
Turn up the heat and let your sauce cook, keeping a careful eye, until it’s simmering vigorously. Stir occasionally to ensure it doesn't start to stick.
You can start to break up the plum tomatoes with a wooden spoon here, and they'll continue to fall apart nicely as they cook.
Step 4
Let it bubble away for a minute or two, then reduce the heat to low and leave to cook for 15 minutes, uncovered. Check occasionally to ensure it stays on a low simmer.
Once it's done, stir in your pasta and top with parmigiano, grana or pecorino before serving. And that's that! A 20 minute pasta sauce that's sure to please even the pickiest eaters.
- If you want to do it like the Italians, don’t have your pasta swimming in sauce. In fact, this sauce tastes much better as a thin coating on the pasta.
- Only got tinned chopped tomatoes to hand? You can absolutely use them instead of peeled plum tomatoes. You'd be sacrificing on flavour, but you'd still have a perfectly nice sauce on your hands in the end.
- Fresh basil works wonderfully in this recipe, of course. However, I've not included it here as this recipe is intended for those nights where you really have nothing in the fridge and only 20 minutes on hand to make the magic happen.
