Spaghetti with Cherry Tomatoes
This typical Neapolitan dish uses cherry tomatoes of about 20–30 g. Any home-grown variety
will be fine but I always use a variety called Red Cherry. Serves 2
Ingredients:
- 500 g cherry tomatoes (Tomato red cherry)
- 3 large cloves of garlic (Bianca Veneto), crushed
- a pinch of fresh or dried oregano (Perenne Comune)
- olive oil for frying
- 1 chilli pepper (Cayenna), deseeded and finely chopped
- 180 g thin spaghetti
- 30 g basil (‘Genovese’), torn
- 3–4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- salt and freshly ground black pepper
- freshly grated Parmesan cheese
Preheat the oven to Gas Mark 3/170°C. Cut the tomatoes in half and place on a baking tray.
Sprinkle with the garlic, oregano and salt and pepper and bake for approximately 70 minutes,
until semi-dry but still squashy. Heat a little oil in a large saucepan and lightly fry the chilli.
Cook the spaghetti in boiling salted water until al dente. Drain and add to the saucepan. Stir in
the tomatoes, basil, extra-virgin oil and ground pepper. To serve, sprinkle with freshly grated
Parmesan cheese.
*taken from the book ‘From Seed to plate’ by Paolo Arrigo, published by Simon and Schuster
