Pesto & tomato pasta with crispy crumbs

Pesto & tomato pasta with crispy crumbs

By Good Food
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(9 ratings)
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Prep: 10 mins Cook: 40 mins

Easy

Serves 5
This simple yet special storecupboard supper will save the day if you need to rustle something up with a moment's notice

Nutrition and extra info

  • Vegetarian

Nutrition: per serving

  • kcal659
  • fat29g
  • saturates7g
  • carbs82g
  • sugars10g
  • fibre5g
  • protein22g
  • salt1.51g
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Ingredients

  • 1 onion, finely chopped
    Onion

    Onion

    un-yun

    Onions are endlessly versatile and an essential ingredient in countless recipes. Native to Asia…

  • 3 garlic cloves, finely chopped or crushed
  • 4 tbsp olive oil
    olive oil

    Olive oil

    ol-iv oyl

    Probably the most widely-used oil in cooking, olive oil is pressed from fresh olives. It's…

  • 2 x 400g cans chopped tomatoes
  • 2 tsp sugar
    Sugar

    Sugar

    shuh-ga

    Honey and syrups made from concentrated fruit juice were the earliest known sweeteners. Today,…

  • 190g jar basil pesto
    Basil

    Basil

    ba-zil

    Most closely associated with Mediterranean cooking but also very prevalent in Asian food, the…

  • few capers or olives (optional)
    Capers

    Capers

    kay-per

    Capers are the small flower buds of the Capparis shrub, which grows in the Mediterranean. As…

  • 140g white bread - stale or fresh, whizzed into crumbs (or 140g/5oz breadcrumbs)
  • 50g pine nuts, roughly chopped
  • 4 tbsp grated parmesan, or vegetarian alternative (optional)
    Parmesan

    Parmesan

    parm-ee-zan

    Parmesan is a straw-coloured hard cheese with a natural yellow rind and rich, fruity flavour. It…

  • 25g butter
    Butter

    Butter

    butt-err

    Butter is made when lactic-acid producing bacteria are added to cream and churned to make an…

  • 350g/12oz-400g/14oz linguine, spaghetti, tagliatelle or whatever you have in the cupboard

Method

  1. Gently cook the onion and half the garlic in 2 tbsp olive oil for 10 mins until soft. Stir in the tomatoes and sugar and simmer for 15-20 mins until saucy. Stir in half the pesto, some seasoning and a few capers or olives, if you have them. Cover and keep warm.

  2. While the sauce is simmering, heat oven to 220C/200C fan/gas 7. Toss the crumbs in a large baking tray with the remaining 2 tbsp olive oil, the rest of the garlic, the pine nuts and Parmesan, if Simple yet special storecupboard supper using. Bake for 10 mins, stirring a few times, until golden. Dot over the butter and return to the oven for 2 mins more.

  3. Meanwhile, bring a pan of salted water to the boil and cook the pasta. Drain, reserving a little cooking water. Stir through the sauce with a splash of cooking water to loosen, if you need to, ripple through the remaining pesto and serve scattered with golden crumbs.

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Comments, questions and tips

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abikinsey
27th Sep, 2012
5.05
Appreciated by children & adults alike, sometimes can't be bothered to do the crumbs, just use grated Parmesan on top. Easy to make and freeze half for next time!
luceybridge
26th Mar, 2012
3.05
Sacla organic pesto is suitable for vegetarians. It costs a bit more though.
mikita
1st Feb, 2012
5.05
Lovely dish! Though, next time I think I'll skip the oven and toast the breadcrumbs in a pan.
tinydancer
3rd Dec, 2011
The crispy crumbs really made this recipe, they were very tasty and it was a nice contrast in texture. The family keep asking for this one, so it must be good.
1flower1
1st Oct, 2011
5.05
Jacqueline I hope this helps. There is a pesto out now called florentino (IT IS VEGETARIAN). There is either tomato or basil. It can be found in some supermarkets, sometimes in the free from section and in many health food shops. Blondie I am told it is really tasty with meatballs.
drhshires
19th Sep, 2011
4.05
This was a really tasty pasta sauce and the garlicky crispy crumbs on top were delicious. I dropped one star in my rating because it took a while to prepare, given that this is essentially a simple tomato sauce and no meat (I'm a meat kinda girl). It was really good though.
fluffyjacq
17th Sep, 2011
Pesto is made of parmesan cheese: Parmesan/Parmigiano-Reggiano is an EU Protected Designation of Origin product and has to be made using calf rennet, so it’s definitely NOT suitable for vegetarians.
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