Spaghetti with summer tomato sauce

Serves 4

At this time of year, when tomatoes are at their best, it's nice to capture the flavour in a pasta sauce. By barely cooking the tomatoes you keep that really fresh, ripe flavour. You can even serve it room temperature, or cold as a salad, scattered with basil leaves. The kids will like this one too, as there are no bits in it to push around the plate and it looks a bit like tinned spaghetti in sauce.

At this time of year, when tomatoes are at their best, it's nice to capture the flavour in a pasta sauce. By barely cooking the tomatoes you keep that really fresh, ripe flavour. You can even serve it room temperature, or cold as a salad, scattered with basil leaves. The kids will like this one too, as there are no bits in it to push around the plate and it looks a bit like tinned spaghetti in sauce.

If you feel like it, add torn basil leaves, cooked prawns, capers or even a bit of chilli to the base of the sauce.

4 shallots, peeled and finely chopped
3 cloves of garlic, peeled and crushed
1tsp fresh thyme or oregano leaves
150ml olive oil
400g ripe red tomatoes, halved and seeds squeezed out
400g cherry tomatoes
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
400g spaghetti
Freshly grated Parmesan or Pecorino to serve

Gently cook the shallots, garlic and thyme in the olive oil without colouring for 2-3 minutes until soft. Add the tomatoes, season and cook on a high heat with a lid on for 2-3 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove from the heat, blend in a liquidiser until smooth then strain through a medium meshed sieve and re-season if necessary.

Meanwhile cook the pasta according to the manufacturer's cooking instructions as this varies (though it will usually be between 9-12 minutes), and drain. Put the pasta in a pan with enough sauce to bind it, then warm on a low heat, stirring for a couple minutes so that the pasta absorbs some of the sauce. You may find you have too much sauce, if so it will keep in the fridge in a covered container for a few days.