Recipe: Making your own tomato based pasta

I have pasta cravings. And Mac cravings, that is, the burgers, not the laptop that I'm typing on. Tonight, I had a pasta craving. So, I decided that was what I was gonna have tonight.

My approach to making pasta sauce is: What do I have in the fridge? Obviously, some basics are needed:

1. Onion, one, chopped finely - fry in 2 tbsp of olive oil for a few minutes till soft.

2. Garlic, one clove, finely chopped - fried together with onions.

3. Bacon, I use a pack of pancetta cubes - add and fry till cooked.

4. Tomato puree, 3 tbsp.

5. Ketchup, one or two squirts.

6. Water or stock. I also like to add a little creme fraiche for a creamy touch, because I don't like the sharp tanginess of pure tomato based sauces. Milk was used tonight as I didn't have any creme fraiche left in the fridge.

7. (5)-(6) make up the base of the sauce. Other touches that I like (optional): oregano or mixed herbs, chilli powder, roasted peppers (you can get those in jars at Waitrose).

8. Pepper and salt to taste.

9. Cooked pasta.

Those are the basics. My favourite things in pasta are:
- Carrot, one, chopped into small cubes.
- Zucchini, one, chopped into small cubes.
- Mushrooms, 1/2 punnet, chopped into small cubes.

Tonight's pasta had a can of clams, brine drained, in it too, and was made with angelhair pasta.

Finally, I have a little habit which The Boy finds disgusting. I love eggs, with runny yolk. So after mixing the ready-made pasta sauce and pasta in a pan, I top the whole lot with an egg like in a fiorentini pizza, cover, and let it cook on the stove until the whites are done but the yolk is still runny. I think it's 3-4 minutes, but I usually just watch it until I'm happy. I think the Japanese have a version of this with fish eggs that they call Mentaiko pasta - Chubby Hubby's picture of it here is to die for. That's why I like a good carbonara too - half-cooked eggs again!

Yummy!