This is blissfully simple recipe that really focusses on the wonderful taste of vine ripened tomatoes and the sweetness from roasted peppers, don't waste the juices from the tomato seeds!
Serves 2-3
Ingredients
200-250 grams of vine ripened plum tomatoes such as ‘Pome dei Moro Tomatoes’ or 'Roma Tomatoes'
1 Medium red chili deseeded and finely chopped.
1 Medium red Pepper skinned and deseeded
½ a red onion finely chopped
2 cloves of garlic crushed
4 tbs of dry white wine
Olive oil
1 tbs Balsamic vinegar
1 level teaspoon of Paprika
2 tbs of fresh basil roughly torn basil
Good quality dried linguine.
Firstly, to remove the skins of the tomatoes: Bring a large pan of water just to boiling point then turn down to a low heat to keep the water just below simmering point. Fill another large bowl with ice-cold water and add a handful of ice cubes. Cut a small cross in the bottom of the tomatoes then place in the hot water for about 30-60 seconds then remove and place in the cold water, you should see the skin start to peel back, then remove from to bowl and peel off the skin.
Cut the tomatoes in half (or into quarters depending on the size) and remove the seeds but don’t throw these away, put them into a sieve over a bowl to collect the juices. Once all the tomatoes have been peeled and all the seeds are in the sieve add a good pinch of salt to the seeds, stir and leave to drain out.
Roast the pepper whole under a grill until all the sides are charred, it should smell sweet and roasted but not like burnt toast. Once roasted (should take roughly 10 minutes), place in a sealed plastic food bag and leave to rest.
In a pan of boiling water, add the pasta and cook according the packet instructions.
Meanwhile, in a frying pan add the olive oil and bring to a medium heat Add the garlic and chili and fry until the garlic just starts to color. Then add the onion, a small knob of butter and cook for a further 5 minutes or until the onions become slightly translucent. Then, add the white wine and let it reduce by about a third or until the alcohol smell has burnt off.
Remove the red pepper from the bag, peel off the skin, de-seed and roughly chop.
Add the tomatoes along with the juice from the seeds, the red pepper, paprika, balsamic vinegar and cook for a further 5-7 minutes or until the sauce has reached the right consistency, not to thin but not to thick as it wont cover all the pasta; running a spoon through the pan should leave a furrow for about a second. At this point, taste and check for seasoning, it will probably need pepper and pinch of salt, there shouldn’t be any bitterness, if there is, add a very small pinch of light brown sugar.
When the pasta is cooked (al dente), drain add to the tomato sauce along with the basil and serve with a drizzle of olive oil and freshly grated Parmesan.
