Tomato Pasta Sauce Recipe

Vine ripened tomatoes give this Italian sauce a quality flavour. Serve over any cooked pasta shapes

400g pasta twists

1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese for sprinkling

8 teaspoons olive oil

2 plump cloves garlic, crushed

1 red chilli, halved, seeded and thinly sliced

4 large vine-ripened tomatoes

20 black olives

1 cup shredded radicchio lettuce or arugula (rocket)

Salt to taste

Bring a large pan of salted water to the boil

Add the pasta and stir well with a wooden spoon to prevent sticking

Cook at a fast boil for 10 minutes, until 'al dente' or just tender

To make the sauce, place oil, garlic and chilli in a small frying pan and cook over a very, very low heat until garlic is cooked but not browned.

Chop tomatoes, place in a bowl

Pour warm oil mixture over tomatoes

Remove stones from olives and coarsely chop olives

Add olives and radicchio to tomatoes, stir until evenly combined

Add salt to taste.

Drain cooked pasta in a colander as soon as it is tender

Return to warm pan, add half tomato sauce and toss together using a pasta fork or wooden spoon.

Divide pasta equally between 4 individual serving bowls and top with the remaining sauce

Sprinkle Parmesan cheese over each portion or serve separately in a small bowl

Allow 100 g of uncooked pasta shapes per person, or 125 g for hearty eaters, for a main meal. Pasta swells and increases in volume when cooked.

Radicchio and arugula (rocket) are popular Italian bitter salad greens. If either is unavailable, you can substitute watercress or baby spinach.

643/kJ 2691 calories, 74 g carbohydrates, 9 g fibre, 25 g protein, 778 mg sodium, 27 g fat, 30 mg cholesterol