Spaghetti with tomato and chilli

I’m embracing fresh produce more than ever, with my garden producing more tomatoes than I know what to do with and my mum and sister providing me with regular deliveries from their vegetable garden and allotment I seem to have fresh produce aplenty!

I can’t wait to get into our new house next year and have my own veg patch but until then I’ll reap the rewards of their hard work. August Bank Holiday weekend we visited the Chilli Festival at Benington Lordship in Hertfordshire and naturally returned home with a few fabulous chilli based products and of course a chilli plant! So with a night to myself I decided to cook a clean and simple dish and photograph it for the blog, and now it’s time to share it with you.

Chilli plant from Benington Lordship Chilli Festival

Spaghetti with tomato and chilli

Servings: 2 people

Ingredients:

• 100g homegrown cherry tomatoes, halved

• 150 - 200g spaghetti (or linguine)

• 1 garlic clove

• 1 chilli, deseeded and finely chopped

• Good quality olive oil

• Basil or parsley

• Pasta water or wine!

• Parmesan to serve

Ingredients for spaghetti with chilli and tomato

Instructions:

1. Heat the olive oil over a low heat and peel and lightly crush (with the back of a knife) the garlic clove. Add the garlic clove to the pan and allow it to flavour the oil.

2. Whilst that’s going on bring a pan of water to the boil ready for the pasta. Add the salt when it’s boiling and then add the pasta.

3. As the pasta cooks, put the chilli and tomatoes in the pan. Add a little seasoning.

4. The tomatoes will slowly start to break down to create a beautiful sauce, once this happens add a little white wine or some pasta water to help keep it from drying out and create more of a sauce. Add basil or parsely.

5. Cook the pasta until it’s al dente, then remove it from the pan using tongs or a spaghetti spoon and add it to the sauce, add a little pasta water and stir to cover and combine the spaghetti with the sauce.

6. Serve the pasta with freshly grated parmesan and a drizzle of olive oil.

I promise you this simple dish won't disappoint. Recently I’ve realised more and more how clean and simple ingredients really do produce the best dishes, so I’m trying to stick to that theory. For more great recipes and regular updates sign up to my newsletter or follow me on Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest or Facebook.

Spaghetti with tomato and chilli