The Fella is working late tonight, and I couldn’t be bothered to go to the supermarket, so I decided to make a pasta sauce based on whatever we had in the fridge. The result was so good that I thought I’d post the recipe (such as it is – it’s really very simple) for my own future reference as much as anything! Apologies for the lack of photos, the light is dull and it tasted so good I just ate it.
Ingredients (serves 2)
- Olive oil
- Half an onion, finely chopped
- A large clove of garlic, crushed and chopped
- 150g pancetta lardons
- A small glass of white wine
- A good handful of sliced mushrooms
- A tin of chopped tomatoes
- 1 tablespoon of tomato puree
- A drizzle of double cream
- A small handful of fresh basil, torn
- Black pepper
- 2oog spaghetti
Method
- Heat up the olive oil and fry the onion, garlic and pancetta. I sauteed them all together, but a better way to do it would probably be to fry the pancetta on a high heat to brown it, then turn the heat down to gently soften the onion and garlic.
- Add the white wine and mushrooms and let it bubble for a few minutes (this makes the mushrooms taste deliciously winey!).
- Add the chopped tomatoes and tomato puree (come to think of it, you could probably add a pinch of sugar at this point). Let it simmer for about 20 minutes until it thickens.
- Stir the cream into the sauce and let it warm through.
- Cook your spaghetti. Don’t believe the packet. It takes 8 minutes.
- Season with black pepper and stir in the torn basil leaves just before you serve it.
Even better? I’ve got most of the bottle of wine left for tonight and half the pasta sauce for my lunch tomorrow!
