Spaghettini with Tomatoes and Olives

This was a case of what the hell's for lunch. I knew I had olives, parsley and a few tomatoes that were on their way out. I looked up olive in Hazan Jnr's 30 minute pasta, and here was a recipe that seemed to fit the bill. Minus the spaghettini, and I think I was 3 tomatoes too short.

I've long been wary of pasta recipes that call for real tomatoes. I'm sure I read somewhere that if you don't have tomatoes picked in Italy at the hight of summer then you're better off using canned tomatoes. But Hazan Jnr's view of the world is that canned tomatoes are for long simmers, and that short simmers should use real tomatoes.

Anyway, I thought I was out of canned tomatoes (I wasn't) so there was little choice in the matter.

Not that my cup ran over or anything. As I said, I only had 3 tomatoes. And one of them had an offputting black mark on it. I peeled them using a peeler. That isn't as obvious as it sounds. I think Neil Perry puts them in hot water with a little cut down the bottom.

I didn't halve the ingredients in the rest of the recipe. It didn't seem right to use 1/2 a clove of garlic. I also used fettuccini as that was the best of the pick.

Anyway, it turned out a cracker. I only tossed half of the pasta, as I only had half of the sauce, but it was delicious. Not as tomatoey as canned tomatoes, but that's a good thing. You also don't need cheese (NB).

Certainly going in my recipe stash, and to be cooked again.