Serves 4
Cooking Time Prep time 10 mins, cook 10 mins

300 gm	spaghettini
80 ml (1/3 cup)	extra-virgin olive oil, plus extra to serve
1	garlic clove, thinly sliced
1-2	small red chillies, thinly sliced
½-1 tsp	dried hot chilli flakes
250 gm	(about 2 cups) cherry or grape tomatoes, halved
1 cup	(loosely packed) basil

1	Bring a saucepan of generously salted water (it should almost taste like the sea) to a simmer over medium-high heat. Add pasta and cook until just al dente (5 minutes; it should be just undercooked), then drain, reserving about 50ml cooking liquid.
2	Meanwhile, heat oil in a large frying pan over medium heat. Add garlic and chilli and fry until aromatic (30 seconds -1 minute). Add tomatoes and basil and increase heat to high. Stir to combine and cook until tomatoes release their juice (2-3 minutes). Add pasta and reserved cooking liquid and simmer until sauce thickens (2-3 minutes). Drizzle with extra olive oil, season to taste and serve hot.

Note This sauce is great on its own, or you can use it as a base to create many other tasty versions. You can mix in flaked good-quality tinned tuna; or add olives, capers and white anchovies, and parsley in place of basil to make a puttanesca fresca. Or go to Sicily by adding, raisins, pine nuts and tinned or fresh sardines for pasta con le sarde.

This recipe was published on the Gourmet Traveller website in February, 2013.