The tin opens with a sharp snap. The oil is already in the pan; a packet of spaghetti is on the table. Before you start, you need to decide how much pasta to cook. Here the answer is written on the packet: 500 grams.
Pasta al pomodoro is one of those dishes we make without waiting for an occasion. The shape, the plate and the people at the table change. A few things still need doing well: cooking the tomatoes, tasting for salt and finishing the pasta in the sauce. This is a home-style version using canned whole tomatoes, useful even when fresh tomatoes are out of season.
One packet, four or five plates
Serves: 4 generously or 5 regular portions.
Preparation: about 10 minutes.
Cooking: about 25 minutes, with pasta and sauce prepared in parallel.
- 500 g spaghetti, or the pasta in your cupboard
- 800 g canned whole peeled tomatoes, including their juice
- 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, plus a little to finish
- 1 garlic clove
- 6–8 basil leaves
- Salt for the sauce and pasta water
You need a pot and a pan wide enough to hold all the pasta. Keep a cup nearby too: before draining, use it to save some cooking water.
How to make pasta al pomodoro
1. Open and crush
Tip the tomatoes into a bowl and crush them with a fork or clean hands. Leave some pieces: they will soften in the pan. Keep all the juice.
2. Start the sauce
Put the oil and the peeled, lightly crushed garlic clove in the pan. Warm gently for 1–2 minutes. The garlic should flavour the oil without turning dark.
Add the tomatoes and their juice, a pinch of salt and two basil leaves. Simmer uncovered for about 20–25 minutes, stirring occasionally. If it reduces too quickly, lower the heat and add a little water.
3. Put the pasta water on
While the sauce cooks, bring a pot of water to the boil and salt it. Add the pasta and stir straight away. Follow the time on the packet, but start tasting about two minutes earlier: it will finish cooking in the pan.
4. Taste the tomatoes
Remove the garlic if you do not want it in the dish. Taste the sauce and adjust the salt. It should have thickened but still be loose enough to coat the pasta. The timing is a guide: a watery passata and thicker canned tomatoes will behave differently.
5. Finish in the pan
Save a cup of cooking water, then drain the pasta while it is still al dente and transfer it to the sauce. Add a small ladle of the reserved water. Stir or toss for 1–2 minutes, until the pasta is cooked and the sauce clings to it. Add more water only if needed.
Turn off the heat. Add the remaining basil, torn by hand, and a drizzle of oil. Divide between plates and serve immediately.
That minute in the pan matters
If the tomatoes sit at the bottom and the spaghetti looks separate from the sauce, keep moving it. If the pasta sticks, it needs more liquid. Add cooking water a little at a time: another spoonful is easier to add than to take away.
You do not need a perfect tower of spaghetti. Tongs, a turn of the hand and sauce following the pasta. The dish needs to arrive hot; the plate’s rim can wait.
The red that remains
For 500GCORP, this recipe already contains an image: red on ceramic, dark basil, pasta changing direction around the fork. Then someone takes the bread and the composition moves again.
Peeled tomatoes, passata and fresh tomatoes
This recipe starts with peeled tomatoes in their juice. Passata gives a smoother sauce, whose thickening you will need to watch in the pan. Fresh tomatoes mean considering ripeness, water and skins. Do not swap ingredients expecting identical timings: look at the consistency before deciding it is ready.
Adjust an overly dry sauce with a little water; let a very liquid one reduce before adding pasta. Aim for a sauce that spreads easily, so the final step stays brief and the spaghetti keeps the texture you want.
Basil and oil at the end
Taste before adding the final drizzle, using enough to accompany the tomato without covering it. The same goes for basil: this recipe uses some during cooking and some after turning off the heat. Keep it by the hob with the plates, so you are not looking for it while the pasta waits.
To repeat the result, note the brand and type of tomatoes used. Two packs can have different consistencies: recognising your preferred one helps more than automatically cooking every sauce longer.
The open packet begins the spaghettata. Sauce left at the bottom is the moment for scarpetta. In between is a recipe to make again, with a different table every time.