Spicy Pink Pasta Recipe

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 medium red onion, diced
1 teaspoon chopped or minced garlic
¼ teaspoon mixed Italian herbs
1 x 400 g tin diced tomatoes
½ cup passata (tomato puree)
½ teaspoon salt
1-2 teaspoons brown sugar
150 mL fresh cream
Pinch of ground chilli powder (optional)

Method

Heat the olive oil in a heavy based pot over a medium-high heat.
Cook onions until glazed.
Add garlic, herbs and chilli powder, if using, and fry for a minute stirring constantly to avoid burning garlic.
Add tomatoes, stir and bring to boil. Add passata and stir through.
Reduce heat to medium-low, cover and allow to simmer for 10 minutes, stirring regularly.
Add the salt and 1 teaspoon of brown sugar and stir thoroughly.
Check for taste and, if too acidic, add remaining sugar.
Simmer covered for another 10 minutes on low heat, if sauce appears dry, add 100 mL boiling water.
Stir through cream and bring to the boil, simmer for 5 minutes.
Recipe notes

It is important to taste the sauce prior to adding the cream at the end - it should have quite a strong flavour at this stage as once the cream is added, the flavour is dulled. Tomatoes and tomato puree lose their acidity the longer they are cooked so if it still tastes a little tart, simmer for a little longer. This sauce goes well with spinach and ricotta agnolotti, or cooked diced chicken can be added if serving with plain pasta. For an extra treat, sprinkle with slivered almonds before serving.