As a preview to the world’s greatest restaurant festival - and as part of our food month this April - we have teamed up Taste of London to offer an exclusive recipe for stylist.co.uk readers every day this week.

Today Theo Randall, chef at elegant London hotel The Intercontinental, shares his recipe for tagliatelle with aubergines, tomato and basil. For more delicious details, read on below...

Tagliatelle with Aubergines, Tomato and Basil

Ingredients

• 6 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 large aubergines, cut into discs 1cm thick
• 1 garlic clove, finely sliced
• 400g can of chopped tomatoes
• 8 basil leaves, torn
• a pinch of dried chilli flakes
• 250g fresh tagliatelle (or dried egg tagliatelle)
• 75g pecorino cheese, grated
• sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Method

This kind of sauce is normally associated with dried pasta, and it works really well with tagliatelle as the aubergines become creamy, coating the egg pasta nicely.

1. Heat 5 tablespoons of the oil in a large frying pan and fry the aubergines, in batches, until lightly golden on the outside and soft all the way through. As each batch is done, place on kitchen paper to absorb the excess oil.

2. Heat the remaining olive oil in a pan, add the sliced garlic and cook gently until softened. Add

the tomatoes, bring to the boil and simmer until reduced by half. Season to taste. Cut the fried aubergines into strips 2cm thick and add to the tomato sauce with the basil, dried chilli and some seasoning.

3. Cook the tagliatelle in a large pan of boiling salted water for about 3 minutes, until al dente (or cook according to the packet instructions for dried tagliatelle). Drain, reserving a little of the cooking water, and add to the sauce. Toss well, adding a couple of spoonfuls of the pasta water to loosen the sauce if necessary, and cook gently for a couple of minutes. Serve with the grated pecorino and some black pepper.

Tickets are now on sale for the world’s greatest restaurant festival, Taste of London, which will return to London’s Regent’s Park between 21-24 June and celebrate the best of world class cuisine. To book tickets go to tastefestivals.com/london