NB: A teaspoonful of sugar added while cooking the sauce, compensates for the possible lack of sunshine “suffered” by the tomatoes and reduces the acidity.

Clean the garlic and, with a sharp knife, chop it finely together with the chilli peppers. Heat the oil and lightly sauté this mixture in a large frying pan, then add the bombolini, salt, sugar and basil. Cover the pan and let the tomatoes simmer for 5 minutes. Remove the lid and use a fork to squash the bombolini, which will have softened by now (protect yourself well with an apron while carrying out this operation, otherwise you’ll get stained with tomato juice). You will obtain a fairly thick sauce which you should continue to cook for another 3 or 4 minutes.