Forget bottled sauces. Chef Jason Tan shows how easy it is to whip up a robust pasta sauce from scratch and make an impressive king prawn pasta dish with it. 

Serves 4

Ingredients:

1 kg fresh ripened Roma tomatoes

200g white onions, chopped

50g garlic

200ml white wine

50g fresh basil leaves

12 pieces king prawns

Method:

1. Bring a pot of water to boil with salt and olive oil.

2. Throw in the pasta when the water is boiling.

3. Cook for 10-12 minutes till al dente, then strain off water and run under tap water to cool the pasta.

4. Cut a small “x” on the bottom of the tomatoes and boil for 3-5 seconds before plunging them immediately into ice water.

5. De-skin, de-core and dice the tomatoes.

6. Sweat onions in extra virgin olive oil till fragrant and then add in chopped garlic and fry for another 3 minutes.

7. Deglaze with white wine and slightly reduce to 1/5 the quantity, add in the dice tomatoes and basil leaves. Cook for another 5 minutes.

8. Season with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste.

9. Heat a non-stick pan on medium heat and sear prawns on both sides. Add in the pasta.

10. Arrange the prawns and pasta on a plate and pour the sauce over.

11. Garnish with chives or deep fried basil leaves.

Jason Tan is the Chef de Cuisine of MELT, The World Cafe at Mandarin Oriental, Singapore.