Pour the oil into a large saucepan and warm over a low without letting it begin to smoke.

Chop the onion, carrot and celery and fry gently together in the oil. Peel and roughly chop the tomatoes and add to the fried ingredients when they become soft and light golden. Increase the heat and cook for ten minutes.

On removing from the heat, add a handful of chopped parsley and stir in well. Make sure to provide freshly grated Parmesan when serving the pasta. If you wish to give the sauce a bit more flavour, fry the bacon, chopped and diced, with the onion, celery and carrot.

This sauce is good with maccheroncini, both smooth and grooved, and was traditionally considered a 'poor' dish as it contains no meat. Indeed the recipe is identical to a meat-based ragù,-without the meat!