Spaghetti with Tomato, Bacon, Lemon & Basil

My absolute ‘GO TO’ dinner’, especially when I’m home late and don’t really feel like cooking. There are no exact ingredients or measurements, it really depends on whats in the pantry and the fridge. I ALWAYS  have tomatoes on hand, and they live on the bench, never in the fridge, so that they become really flavoursome. You can add a couple of drained anchovies when sauteeing the onion and garlic for a fabulous salt infusion. They actually melt and add great flavour, and NO you can’t tell that they are in the dish.

Ingredients

• 1 onion, finely chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• 1 red chilli, finely chopped
• 2 - 3 Sliced bacon rashers, optional
• 1 punnet cherry tomatoes, halved
• 1 tbs baby capers
• Zest and juice 1 lemon
• 1/2 bunch sliced basil leaves
• 1/2 bunch flat leaf parsley, chopped
• 100ml vegetable or beef stock
• Spaghettini or Linguini
• Salt and pepper
• Extra virgin olive oil
• Grated parmesan to serve

Method

1. Bring a pot of salted water to the boil, add the pasta and cook for approximately 8 minutes or until ‘al dente’ (which literally means ‘to the tooth’)
2. Drain, reserving 2 -3 tablespoons of the cooking liquid.
3. Meanwhile, saute the onion, bacon, if using, and garlic in olive oil in a frypan over medium heat until soft.
4. Add the chilli and tomatoes and cook for 5-6 minutes or until just softening.
5. Add the vegetable or beef stock and cook for a minute or two.
6. Next add the lemon zest, the juice to taste, capers, salt and pepper and a really good glug of olive oil.
7. Add the chopped basil and parsley and season really well with sea salt and cracked black pepper.
8. Toss the pasta into this tomato, bacon and herb mix.
9. Serve topped with grated parmesan.

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