Please tell me that you don’t open a jar of Prego and pour some on your spaghetti. Please tell me that you at least sauté some onions and garlic in olive oil, add your sauce from the jar, and doctor it up with some basil, oregano, and cracked pepper. You don’t? Well, if you have always wanted to make a delicious Pomodoro sauce but don’t want to spend hours slaving over the stove, I want to share with you the yummiest recipe. It comes from the same Bon Appetit where I found the gelato recipe.
Pasta al Pomodoro
Recipe by the Bon Appétit Test Kitchen
I halved the recipe and my notes are in italics.
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons olive oil (recipe calls for extra virgin but I used regular)
- 1 small onion, minced
- 3 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 pinch crushed red pepper flakes
- 1 14.5 oz. can peeled tomatoes, puréed in a food processor (don’t skip this step)
- Kosher salt
- 2 large fresh basil sprigs (if you don’t have fresh basil, you can use 1 teaspoon dried basil)
- 4 oz. bucatini or spaghetti
- 1 Tbsp. cubed unsalted butter
- 1/4 cup finely grated Parmesan or Pecorino (just grate as much cheese as you want)
Preparation
Heat olive oil in a medium skillet over medium-low heat. Add onion and cook for about 10 minutes, stirring a few times. Stir garlic and cook for about 2 minutes. Add red pepper flakes and cook for 1 minute. Increase heat to medium, and add tomatoes and kosher salt (I add a few pinches). Cook, stirring occasionally, for about 20 minutes (keep an eye out to keep the sauce from sticking to the bottom of the pan). Add the basil, and take the sauce off the heat. Boil water (make sure you add salt to the pasta water) and cook your pasta according to the instructions on the box, but take it out two minutes before it’s supposed to be done. Before straining the pasta, take 1/4 cup of pasta water and stir into the sauce. Remove the basil sprigs, and heat the sauce over high heat. Add the pasta to the sauce and cook for about 2 minutes, or until the pasta is done. Take the pasta and sauce off the heat and stir the butter and cheese until the cheese melts (I only stir in the butter at this point and the add the cheese once the pasta is served. That way it makes for easier cleanup). Serve with tons of grated cheese.
Do you have your nonna’s perfect pasta sauce recipe? Share it in the comments!!
Image courtesy of Dr. Conati.
