Italian🍜 Noodles & pasta

Spaghetti al Pomodoro

Name: Spaghetti al Pomodoro
Yield: 2 servings
Cuisine: Italian
Ingredients: ~1½ lb cherry tomatoes or grape tomatoes; ~1 lb spaghetti; 1 garlic; ~¼ cups extra virgin olive oil; to taste salt; ~½ cup fresh basil

🍽 Serves 2

One of Italy's most iconic dishes made with fresh tomatoes and simple ingredients. Though it appears straightforward, perfectly cooking the pasta, seasoning the sauce, and using quality ingredients are essential to mastery.

Adapted from a video by Pasta Grammar

We're Going Back to Basics

Watch on YouTube

Ingredients

cherry tomatoes or grape tomatoes~1½ lbest.
spaghetti~1 lbest.
garlic1
extra virgin olive oil~¼ cupsest.
saltto taste
fresh basil~½ cupest.

Steps

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1
Prepare the tomatoes by washing and halving them. Peel the garlic, cut it in half, and remove the green germ from the center as it can taste bitter.
2
Heat olive oil in a pan over medium-low heat with the garlic halves until fragrant.
3
Add the halved tomatoes to the pan and lightly salt them. Cook until they release plenty of liquid and soften, gently pressing them with a spoon to help break them down.
4
Taste the sauce and adjust seasoning with more salt if needed. When the sauce begins to thicken, add fresh basil leaves whole or torn.
5
Cook the spaghetti in well-salted boiling water, testing frequently by tasting rather than using a timer to achieve al dente texture—slightly undercooked since it will finish cooking in the sauce. This typically takes around 8 minutes.
6
Transfer the drained spaghetti to the tomato sauce over medium-high heat. Stir and cook together so the pasta absorbs the sauce flavor. Add pasta cooking water as needed if the sauce becomes too thick.
7
Plate the spaghetti and taste. If the tomato sauce is excellent and well-seasoned, serve without cheese; otherwise, add grated cheese to taste.

Spaghetti al Pomodoro

Ingredients

Steps

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