A good bowl of spaghetti topped with fresh tomato sauce made from scratch at home, garnished with fresh basil leaves and a generous handful of grated Parmigiano cheese. Italian comfort food, simple and delicious.
Serves: 4 | Preparation time: 15 mins | Cooking time: 60 mins
- Piennolo, Cherry or Piccadilly tomato, fresh: 800 g
- Spaghetti : 380 g
- Extra Virgin Olive Oil – EVOO: 3 tablespoons
- Basil, fresh: 4-5 leaves
- Garlic: 1 clove
- Parmigiano, grated: to taste
- A small carrot, peeled
Method
Coarsely chop the basil leaves and leave a few whole ones for garnishing at the end.
Cut a shallow X on top of each tomato with a knife.
Bring a pot of water to the boil and blanch the tomatoes no longer than 1 – 2 minute.
Remove them from the pot, place them in a bowl with water and ice or under cold running water and let them cool. Thanks to the X previously engraved on each tomato, they will peel easily. Now mash them with a fork, add the chopped basil and mix.
Brown the garlic in a frying pan with 3 tablespoons of EVOO. Add the crushed tomatoes with the chopped basil, cook over a low heat for about an hour, season with a pinch of salt. Taste from time to time and if the tomato sauce is a little sour, add a small peeled carrot which will release its natural sugars that will counteract the acidity of the tomatoes.
Turn off the heat and allow to cool slightly.
Bring salted water to the boil, throw in the spaghetti and drain al dente.
Add to the tomato sauce, stir, then garnish each plate with a few fresh basil leaves and a handful of grated Parmigiano cheese. Serve.
9 Comments
I love this simple dish. Ripe fresh tomatoes make such a difference in flavor. I love your tip on how to tell when to pick the tomato. Thank you!
Hello Michelle,
I’m glad you loved the tip, sometimes it’s important to talk about some details that can make a certain difference. Thanks to you for your comment!
Perfect way to use the hundreds of cherry tomatoes in my garden! SO fresh!
Perfect timing!
Enjoy your fresh tomato sauce with your cherry tomatoes, Susan 🙂
Simplicity is so good, this was delicious made with the tomatoes fresh form our garden!
Brian,
I am very pleased that you used fresh tomatoes from your garden, a nice way to use them!
We have so many small tomatoes in our garden and this was the perfect use for them! Perfect comfort food!
Beth,
those small tomatoes are already on their way to a good sauce 🙂
Simple yet so delicious! Was looking for a good homemade tomato sauce just last week. Will definitely be trying this!
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