When you have hungry, tired and a little poorly kids at home, a steaming bowl of pasta in tomato sauce might just make their day better. It worked in my house! There is something very comforting and summary in a pasta dish with the heady aroma of tomatoes and oregano. This is a vibrant dish and baked beans give it an extra depth of flavour. It’s a trusted recipe, one that I go back to all year round. Hope you’ll enjoy it too.
A packet of pasta
1 packet of smoked bacon, chopped
1 onion, sliced
3 garlic cloves, chopped
1 carton of passata
1tsp sugar
1tsp dried oregano
1tsp paprika
1 tin of baked beans
Cook pasta according to the packet instructions. I used farfalle and wholewheat spirals.
Heat up the frying pan and add bacon. Fry on high heat until crisp.
Add the onion - at this stage you should have enough fat from the bacon to fry the onion until soft. If not, just add a tablespoon of olive oil.
Add garlic and fry for a minute or so. Make sure it doesn’t brown as it’ll make it taste bitter.
Add passata, sugar, oregano, paprika and a cup of water from the pasta pot. Cook for about 5 minutes until the sauce reduces slightly in volume.
Add baked beans and cook for a few more minutes. Season with salt and pepper.
Add pasta, mix well together and serve.