Essential store cupboard tomato pasta

with a side of burrata, just because

I’m always slightly wary of sharing pasta recipes on Dinner Tonight because I think so often pasta is the obvious choice at the end of a long day. And I think part of my job is giving you ideas and recipes for other things you can cook. But the thing is that in truth, my week is not complete without a bowl of pasta at some point. Pasta is one of my very favourite things in the world so it feels only natural to share the occasional pasta recipe with you. And this is a very good, very simple pasta sauce. I think that’s the secret to a great pasta recipe, is really that it is very simple. This is a store cupboard staple you can always rely on.

I will leave it up to you whether you decide to serve it with a ball of burrata or not. All I will say is that there are few problems a ball of burrata can’t solve. And honestly the combination of hot pasta with cool creamy burrata is just a combination I will not get over. It’s just delicious. Plain and simple.

If burrata seems extravagant, I get it. It’s expensive and definitely a treat. You can use my nifty cheat’s burrata hack. See The Notes.

This recipe requires just a handful of ingredients, and I’m pretty confident you have them in your cupboard. The base recipe is simple and delicious and I love it just as it is but you can dress it up in a myriad of ways. Add fresh or dried chilli, you can add anchovies or capers or olives. You can add more (or less garlic), you could even add a splash of cream or mascarpone. Really there are so many things you can do once you’ve got this master recipe. Each time you cook it, it will probably be a little different and I kind of love that in a recipe.

I also love to make really big batches of this and keep it in the freezer as it freezes really well and it’s just a comforting thing to know is there. Not that this takes long to make from start to finish but we all know there are days when even waiting for a tomato sauce to bubble is too much.

Serves 2