An olive oil based pasta is my favourite kind. So simple, so easy and so tasty! Perfect for a week night dinner or a lunch in the sun with a glass of Chardonnay.

You should definitely have this before summer signs off.

Serves 4

400g linguine, angel hair or fettuccine
1 dozen or so truss cherry tomatoes
100ml extra virgin olive oil
1 long red chilli, deseeded and finely diced
2 garlic cloves, crushed
1/4 cup dry Vermouth
3 tbs prawn essence
200g fresh picked crab meat
Squeeze of lemon
Large handful flat leaf parsley, roughly chopped
Salt to taste

First, get your tomatoes into a medium oven and roast until the skin blisters, about 15 minutes. Remove and allow to cool slightly.

In a large saucepan, bring some salty water to the boil and cook the pasta according to the instructions on the pack.

While the pasta is cooking, add oil, garlic and chilli to a large fry pan over medium heat and cook for about 3 minutes until the garlic is cooked but not browned. Increase heat and add the Vermouth to deglaze the pan. Cook off at a boil for about a minute. Add the tomatoes and semi crush them to release their juice. Turn off heat. Add the crab, prawn essence and season with salt and then set aside.

Once the pasta is cooked, drain but reserve a couple of tablespoons of the pasta water. Add the pasta and pasta water to the pan and toss well to coat. Add the chopped parsley, a squeeze of lemon, toss again and serve.