Spaghetti with peppers, basil and cherry tomatoes

Tamara West

Ingredients

1 ½	Red peppers, deseeded (Main)
½ cup	Olive oil
2	Garlic cloves, sliced
1 pinch	Dried chilli flakes
1 punnet	Cherry tomatoes, halved (Main)
1 cup	Tomato passata (Main)
375 g	Spaghetti, dried (Main)
1 cup	Fresh basil (Main)
1 bowl	Grated parmesan cheese, use grana padano

Directions

1. Carefully peel peppers using a sharp vegetable peeler. Cut lengthwise into 1cm-wide strips.
2. Heat oil over medium heat in a wide pan and cook peppers gently for 5 minutes or so until they start to soften.
3. Add garlic, chilli and cherry tomatoes to pan and cook until tomatoes begin to collapse,
4. Add passata and a dash of water to pan, season generously with salt, stir to combine, reduce heat to low and simmer for 10 minutes. Adjust salt to taste.
5. Meanwhile cook spaghetti in plenty of salted boiling water, according to packet instructions.
6. Using tongs, lift spaghetti directly from the pot and transfer into the pan of sauce, along with a little of the pasta water. Cook for a minute, then add half the basil and stir to combine.
7. Serve in warmed bowls with the remaining basil and plenty of grated grana padano.