Creamy pasta sauces don’t stand a chance with the tomato around

Imagine Italy without tomatoes. It’s hard to picture, yet until the 1800s Italians suspected this fruit, brought over from the Americas via Spain in the sixteenth century, would poison and kill. In England, people wouldn’t touch it for hundreds of years, fearing that the ‘love apple’ would provoke excessive sexual appetite, gout and even cancer.

These days, the tomato has made a turnaround and is now lauded rather than dreaded. Not only is it a kitchen staple, it’s also believed that the tomato’s high levels of antioxidants and vitamin C may help protect against cancer.

And finally, after years of buying hard, tasteless imports, supermarkets have started stocking the tomato as it should be – ripened naturally on the vine to a glowing redness and bursting with flavour. Alongside shelves of regular yellow and orange, miniature plum and cherry tomatoes come some we haven’t met before: organic and hydroponic ones (where nutrients are fed to the tomato via fresh water only) without any metallic fertiliser aftertaste.

After you decide which tomatoes to buy, keep them out of the fridge – it’s too cold and their flavour will fade. They’ll get sweeter if you leave them out at room temperature. Rip off any plastic wrap at once, then line them up stalk-side down and not touching each other, along a windowsill. Use an empty egg carton to store small tomatoes that might roll away.

Tomatoes combined with pasta are a ‘feelgood’ food. The wheat’s carbohydrate added to tomatoes stimulates the production of serotonin, a hormone that makes us feel happy. And together they make that rare thing – a quick and easy meal that comforts and tastes of a celebration. Tomato sauces are so pretty and simply delicious, whether they’re warmed whole in oil with a handful of fresh herbs, or halved and enriched with ricotta. With all these glorious options, cream sauces aren’t even in the running.

Try these tomato-based sauces to make your pasta a tasty triumph.

Basic Tomato Sauce
Serves 4
In a saucepan, combine one 400g tin peeled tomatoes with 1 carrot, peeled and chopped, 1 stick of celery, chopped, 1 ½ onions, chopped, pinch of salt and ¼ tsp sugar and cook uncovered for 30 minutes at a steady simmer. Then, purée and return to the pan, add 8 tbsp olive oil and simmer for a further 15 minutes.

Rosemary, Pancetta and Tomato Sauce
Serves 4
Heat 3 tbsp olive oil in a small pan over medium heat. When hot, add 2 tsp finely chopped fresh rosemary and 60g pancetta, cut in thin strips. Fry for 1 minute, stirring constantly. Add to basic tomato sauce and serve with penne.

Marjoram and Cheese Tomato Sauce
Serves 4
Add 2 tsp chopped marjoram to basic tomato sauce and simmer gently for 8 minutes. When the pasta is ready, mix 2 tbsp fresh grated Parmesan cheese with 2 tablespoons of freshly grated Pecorino Romano cheese into the sauce and add 1 tbsp olive oil. Stir rapidly but well and pour over the pasta. Serve with a bowl of grated Parmesan.

Oregano and Tomato Sauce
Serves 4
Combine 2 large handfuls finely chopped oregano, 50g dried oregano and 3 tbsp olive oil in a large serving bowl. Seed and finely chop 10 ripe tomatoes and place in a separate bowl with 2 ½ tbsp olive oil, salt and pepper. Cook your pasta, drain it and turn it into the serving bowl and toss well to thoroughly incorporate the oregano. Then, tip the tomatoes over the top and serve at once.

Ricotta and Cherry Tomato Sauce
Serves 4
Heat 3 tbsp oil in a pan, add 1 finely chopped onion and fry gently for 3 minutes. Add 4 crushed garlic cloves, 1 tbsp chopped oregano, 300g halved cherry tomatoes and 1 tsp caster sugar. Add 3 tbsp tomato puree and 6 tbsp water. Season to taste with salt and pepper and bring to the boil. Spoon in 250g ricotta cheese, 1 tbsp at a time, and heat through gently for 1 minute.