Tomato & Basil Pasta

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This is the simplest pasta I have ever seen IN MY LIFE. But tell me, how is it so GOOD?!

During my recovery, something I've struggled with a lot is sauces, and this is the very first one I tried. I have to say, the fact that there are only a few ingredients helped a LOT, and this sauce can be modified to add in loads of extra things.

Anyway, this is how I entered the world of sauces again, and I hope you enjoy this recipe too!

Preparation

The first thing we're gonna do is get our ingredients ready. This recipe makes enough for 2 (or you're obviously welcome to use it all if that's what you want!).

You will need:

- Two portions of pasta (I used 140g of this heart shaped pasta I found).

- 1 Tin of Chopped tomatoes

- 1tbsp Tomato puree

- A squeeze (roughly 1tbsp) Honey

- 1/2 a vegetable stock cube

- Herbs and seasonings of your choice: I used garlic powder, pepper, onion powder, mixed Italian herbs, and a little fresh basil.

Remember, I put these specific weights and measurements here as a rough guidance. When I make this, I just do it by eye and don't weigh anything out, so please don't feel like your amounts have to be super accurate!

Okay, now we have everything ready, we can start to cook!

The Cooking

We're gonna start off with our pasta, since that will take the longest. Fill a saucepan full with water and heat until it begins to boil. Or if you're lazy like me, just boil the water in the kettle first, it's much quicker. Add the water to the pasta and cook (follow the instructions on your pasta packet because all pastas are SUPER different with cook times).

Right, while the pasta is cooking, we'll make our sauce!

Get out a LARGE frying pan - you're gonna be tipping everything including the pasta in here, so it needs to be BIG. Add your tin of tomatoes to the pan, along with the tomato puree, honey, stock cube and seasonings EXCEPT the fresh basil. Put the heat on high and bring to the boil. Then turn the heat to low and leave it to simmer for around 5 minutes.

By now, your pasta should be done! Go drain it :).

Add the drained pasta into the pan with the sauce, and mix it all up.

Add your fresh ripped up basil leaves, and do a final mix (just to make sure it's REALLY mixed in).

Congratulations, you've successfully made the easiest pasta in the world!

Now just to plate it up....

The Plating

Gently ladle around half of the pasta mixture into a bowl. I say gently because the first time I did this, I broke all my cute heart shaped pasta pieces.

To make it look nice and pretty, sprinkle over some dried herbs (I used the dried Italian herbs again), and garnish with a few fresh basil leaves.

I hope you enjoy! Please let me know if you give it a try, I'd love to see your creations :).

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