Name: Les pâtes au piment (Pasta with piment)
Yield: Serves 4
Cuisine: French
Ingredients: ½ small dried piment, deseeded, finely chopped and pounded (1 tsp of powdered piment will substitute well); 2 large ripe tomatoes, peeled and chopped; Basque hard cheese (Parmesan will substitute), grated; salt; 350 g pasta; 2 large cloves garlic, finely chopped; 4 tbsp best olive oil

Preparation info

Serves
4

Difficulty
Medium

Appears in

Magrets & Mushrooms

By Jeanne Strang

Published 2024

About

Pasta turns up in various guises all over the South-West. In the Basque country, you will find various varieties (tagliatelle, spaghetti, macaroni) served with a simple tomato sauce, seasoned with the local piment d’Espelette.

Ingredients

4 tbsp best olive oil
½ small dried piment, deseeded, finely chopped and pounded (1 tsp

Method

Warm the oil over a very low heat and add the piment. Leave for 15 minutes without allowing it to brown; it should gently colour the oil. Add the tomatoes and mash all together in the pan with the garlic. Season with salt and allow to cook very slowly for 30 minutes. The sauce should be the consistency of a purée.

Cook the pasta in boiling salted water until al dente. Drai