Creamy Tomato Pasta with Mozzarella

Ingredients

• 400 g penne
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 onion, finely diced
• 3 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
• 2 tbsp tomato puree
• 500 ml passata
• 120 ml double cream
• ½ tsp caster sugar
• 1 tsp dried basil
• 250 g mozzarella pearls, drained
• 80 g baby spinach
• 15 g basil, torn
• 40 g Parmesan, finely grated
• salt and black pepper to taste

Method

1. Warm the olive oil in a large, deep frying pan over a medium heat. Add the onion with a pinch of salt and cook for 6 to 7 minutes until soft, translucent and just starting to catch gold at the edges.
2. Add the sliced garlic and cook for 30 seconds, just until fragrant; pale gold, no further. Stir in the tomato puree and cook for another minute until it darkens a shade and smells sweet rather than sharp.
3. Pour in the passata with a splash of water. Simmer for 8 to 10 minutes until the sauce has tightened slightly and tastes rounded rather than raw. Taste; if the tomatoes are sharp, stir in the sugar.
4. Stir in the cream and dried basil and bring back to a gentle simmer for 3 to 4 minutes until the sauce coats the back of a spoon in a silky pink veil. Season boldly with salt and black pepper now; the pasta will mute it, so push further than feels polite.
5. Use plenty of water and bring it to a strong boil. Season the pasta itself. Cook the penne until a minute shy of al dente, scoop out a mugful of the starchy water, then drain.
6. Tip the penne into the sauce with a good splash of the pasta water. Toss over the heat for 1 to 2 minutes until the sauce clings in a creamy coat rather than pooling at the bottom. Fold the spinach through until just wilted, then add the mozzarella pearls and fold once or twice so they soften and string slightly without melting away to nothing.