Spaghetti All’assassina

Step 1

Heat a small saucepan over a medium heat. Add a splash of olive oil and the tomato purée and cook for a minute. Add the water and ½ the salt and mix to combine. Bring to a boil then turn off the heat and set aside. This is your tomato broth.

Step 2

Meanwhile, crush the garlic. Heat a generous glug of olive oil in a large frying pan (ideally cast iron) set over a medium heat. Add the garlic and chilli flakes and sizzle for 30 seconds, then add the tinned tomatoes. Bring to a simmer and stir in the remaining salt.

Step 3

Place the spaghetti directly on top of the sauce, then ladle in a quarter of the tomato broth. As the broth simmers and the pasta cooks, gently move it around a bit with a spoon. You want to keep adding broth as it reduces, allowing the pasta to cook but also to catch in places and even burn on the edges.

Step 4

Once the pasta is al dente, stop adding broth and let the spaghetti fry and toast slightly in the sauce, if you need to. This is an observational process; you’ll have to keep an eye on it and adjust to your liking.

Step 5

Ultimately, you want to end up with quite a ‘tight’ tomato sauce, and pasta which is cooked through, crispy and charred in places. Serve on warm plates with a drizzle of good olive oil and an extra pinch of chilli, if you like.