Spaghetti Puttanesca

The original recipe called for anchovies - I do NOT like anchovies, so I left it out. Came out fine without it.

Serves 3

Pasta
250-300gr spaghetti
1 tbsp olive oil
150gr bacon
2 ripe tomatoes
1 onion
2 garlic cloves
12 large leaves of fresh spinach or 30 small ones
2 tbsp fresh basil (I just guestimated this - I love basil and probably took more than needed ;) )
250gr ricotta cheese (or cottage cheese if you can't find ricotta)
Salt and pepper

Tomato Sauce
1 can (14oz) chopped tomatoes
1 tbsp tomato purée (can be omitted)
1 tsp sugar (can be omitted)
Chili according to taste

Boil the pasta according to the package but take it off one minute before time. Drain and set aside.

Cut crosses over the stem of the tomatoes and pour boiling water over them. Let them sit in boiling water for a couple of minutes. This will allow the skin to loosen, and you should be able to peel them without problems.

Finely chop bacon, onion and garlic. Cook in olive oil until the onions are done. This will take 3-5 minutes depending on how much bite you like in your onions.
Chop peeled tomatoes and spinach. Add to the pan and cook until done. That will take another 2-3 minutes.
Take the pan off the heat and add ricotta cheese, basil and salt and pepper according to taste.

Mix spaghetti into the pan and transfer it to an ovenproof dish. Bake at 180*C for 10 minutes or until it's heated through.

While the pasta is in the oven, make the tomato sauce. This is really easy :) Just dump everything together in a small casserole, bring it to a boil and leave it to simmer until the pasta is done.

Enjoy! :-)