The very least that spaghetti, rigatoni, penne, linguine, ravioli and the hundreds of other Italian pasta shapes need to become a tasty meal is a really great tomato sauce recipe. A great tomato sauce for pasta is incredibly quick, easy and cheap to make, and once mastered can become the basis for other, more adventurous sauces like the classic Puttanesca or al funghi (mushrooms).
The beauty of this recipe over some others is that you don’t need to cook the sauce for long to allow it to thicken – the passata does most of that job for you! Add a delicious gluten free chocolate cake - a classic Italian Torta Caprese - and soon, your dinner table will rival the best Italian Restaurants. You may even feel like taking the next step by making your own homemade pasta.
Tomato Sauce for Pasta
But let’s start with the basics. Here’s what you’ll need:
- A tablespoon or two of olive oil
- Half an onion, finely chopped
- 1 clove of garlic, crushed or chopped
- 1 tin/carton (400 grams) Italian chopped tomatoes
- 250 grams passata (sieved tomatoes)
- Two tablespoons of tomato puree
- Salt and freshly milled black pepper
- Dried or fresh basil
Cooking the sauce
Splash the olive oil into the bottom of a medium sized saucepan and place it over a medium heat. When it is hot add the chopped onion. You can test how hot it is by dropping in one or two small pieces of onion – if it sizzles straight away then the oil is hot enough! Easy!
- Turn the heat down a little and gently soften the onion in the pan, stirring it around regularly with a wooden spoon to prevent it sticking. Keeping it moving will also help to prevent it burning which adds a bitter flavour to the sauce. When the onion has softened, about 5 minutes or so, add the chopped garlic. Garlic burns much more easily than onion so keep the heat low and stir it all around well for a couple of minutes.
- Next, add the entire tin of chopped tomatoes, the 250 grams of passata (about half a carton) and the tomato puree. Give this a good stir to mix everything together. You can raise the heat a little at this stage to bring the sauce to simmering point, but turn it down low again once it is simmering. If you are using dried basil, add this now – about half a teaspoon should be enough – and season to taste with a decent pinch of salt and 4 to 6 turns of the pepper mill. If you are using fresh basil tear a few leaves into the sauce only as you are serving to preserve the flavour.
- The sauce needs to simmer gently for only about 10 to 15 minutes, but remember to stir occasionally. While it is cooking you can boil your pasta and when it is ready – usually about 10 to 12 minutes your sauce will be ready to mix in with it and enjoy.
From start to finish you can have a delicious plate of spaghetti with home-made sauce in less than 30 minutes. You can also use this as a base for a delicious spinach and ricotta cannelloni.
Making Spaghetti Puttanesca
A puttanesca sauce is an ever popular variation on the basic tomato sauce. To the simmering basic sauce stir in the contents of a small tin of anchovies, a heaped tablespoon of drained capers and a good generous handful of black olives. Puttanesca is traditionally served with spaghetti.
Other variations on the basic tomato sauce for pasta
With mushrooms: Once you have softened your onion and garlic add a generous portion of chopped mushrooms. Sauté the mushrooms with the onion and garlic for a few minutes then add all the other ingredients as before for a delicious sauce al funghi. This is excellent with tube type pasta like penne or rigatoni.
With olives: Put in a handful of black Greek-style dry olives to the sauce while it is cooking.
With crème fraiche: To add a tangy creaminess stir in a tablespoon of crème fraiche about 5 minutes before serving.
With lemon: add the juice and zest from a lemon for a delicious citrus twist; great with tagliatelle.
Alasdair Smith - Scottish-based education, travel, family-history and food writer with a passion for all things French and Italian.
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