tomato & ricotta rigatoni

This might honestly be my favourite pasta recipe ever. It’s the kind of dish that feels luxurious but comes together with almost no effort — quick enough for a weeknight, but rich and indulgent enough to feel like a treat. Sweet red onions and semi-dried tomatoes are cooked down slowly until soft and jammy, creating a deeply savoury, flavour-packed base. Ricotta is stirred through at the end, melting into the sauce and turning it silky, creamy and completely irresistible. Use really good-quality pasta here — the kind with a rough surface to catch the sauce — and you’ll have a dinner that tastes far more impressive than the time it took to make.

4 · 30 minutes

ingredients

• 265g semi-dried tomatoes, plus the oil from the jar
• 2 tablespoons of tomato purée
• 1 red onion, peeled and diced
• 2 garlic cloves, peeled and diced
• 2 teaspoons of dried rosemary
• 250g ricotta
• 500g rigatoni
• Olive oil
• Salt

method

1. Place the semi-dried tomatoes (plus their oil), 2 tablespoons of tomato purée and a pinch of salt into a powerful blender and blend until a smooth paste forms. Place to one side until needed.
2. Put a large pan over a medium heat and add a drizzle of olive oil. Once warm, add the diced garlic, onion and a pinch of salt. Mix well and cook for 10 minutes until the onion becomes soft.
3. While the onion cooks, put the pasta on to cook according to the instructions on the pack - cooking it for 1 less minute than the instructions state.
4. Once the onions are soft, mix through the dried rosemary and cook for a minute before mixing through the semi-dried tomato paste from the blender. Cook for another 5-10 minutes until the tomato paste has softened, before finally adding the ricotta. Mix everything together well and cook for another 5 minutes.
5. Once the pasta is cooked, drain and reserve a little of the water.
6. Mix the cooked pasta through the sauce and cook for another minute or so until everything is piping hot and cooked through, adding a dash of the pasta water bit by bit until you reach the consistency you like best.