A weeknight tomato sauce enriched with mascarpone until it turns the colour of terracotta. Ready in the time the pasta takes.
Prep
8 mins
Cook
22 mins
Servings
4
Per serving
£1.35
Difficulty
easy
Mascarpone does something double cream cannot: it thickens as well as enriches, so the sauce coats gluten-free penne without going thin and greasy. A spoon of red wine vinegar at the end stops it tasting flat.
Put a large pan of well-salted water on to boil for the pasta.
Warm the oil in a wide, deep frying pan over a medium-low heat and cook the onion with a pinch of salt for 8 minutes, until soft and translucent but not coloured. Add the garlic and oregano and cook for another minute.
Stir in the tomato puree and let it fry for 30 seconds so it loses its raw edge, then pour in the chopped tomatoes. Half-fill the empty tin with water, swirl it out and add that too. Simmer for 12 minutes, stirring now and then, until thick enough to leave a trail behind the spoon.
Meanwhile cook the penne for one minute less than the packet says. Reserve a mugful of cooking water, then drain.
Take the sauce off the heat and beat in the mascarpone until smooth, then the vinegar, pepper and half the grated cheese. Return to a very low heat.
Adding the mascarpone off the heat stops it splitting into oily specks.
Tip in the drained pasta and toss, loosening with the reserved water a splash at a time until the sauce slides rather than clumps. Serve with the remaining cheese and torn basil.