I went to meet my boyfriend, his dad and sister at the Design Museum one evening after work a few months ago to have a tour of a new exhibition. Afterwards we wandered around Shad Thames looking for a restaurant to satisfy our hunger. We saw an average looking Indian restaurant (at this point I was certainly not a fan of curry) and this was quickly disregarded. Afterall, we do live in Wembley, quite possibly the best suburb for an authentic curry house.

We eventually stumbled upon an Italian restaurant by the river called Cantina Del Ponte. The menu was impressive, Jacks sister went for a classic fish dish, Jack had sea food linguine and I went for a fantastically delicious stone baked buffalo mozzarella, pesto and tomato pizza. It was however amusing to see Jacks dad order ‘pepper pasta’, what seemed to be the most unappetizing dish on the menu. The food arrived and it turned out he was certainly having the last laugh. I was very kindly offered a taste and I being one never to turn down any offer of food took a fork full and almost gasped with shock. It was arguably the best pasta dish I have ever tasted.

We have been back for more pepper pasta and made countless attempts to copy their glorious dish. Each time we cook it we tweak it, adding a few more ingredients but it really is good to leave it simple. Here is my latest attempt. Try it yourself!

What you need:
Serves 4
Preparation time 5 mintues
Cooking time 10 mintues

1 onion (cubed)
1 red chilli (diced)
5 cloves garlic (crushed)
A large glug of olive oil
A glug of sun dried tomato oil
100g grated fresh Parmesan
4 oven roasted tomatoes or 10 sundried tomatoes (diced)
Salt and pepper (to taste)
250g Linguine

1. Fry off onion and chilli in olive oil for 2 minutes before adding crushed garlic and season well.
2. Add sun dried tomato oil and grated cheese until melted
3. Boil linguine in a pan
4. Drain linguine and add to melted cheese and oil. Mix well
5. Serve warm with fresh basil leaves and green vegetables

One of my favourite ‘fast food’ meals. Quick, easy, tasty and enough leftovers for lunch the next day!