SpaghettiTomato

Jacob Kenedy's Pomodoro (Simple Tomato Sauce & Spaghetti)

If there was only one pasta recipe in the world, this would be it! Don’t be conned by its ubiquity into thinking it is any less than the sophisticated, sunny, resplendent and decadent dish that it is. It takes little cooking, so use very good tomatoes, as their quality will be evident.

Prep Time: 15
Cooking Time: 40
4 people

Used in this recipe

Ingredients

For the sauce (can be made ahead) -

2 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
Small pinch of chilli flakes (optional)
800g chopped tomatoes (if fresh,
keep their skins and seeds and
chop fine; if canned, this is 2 cans)
Sea salt and black pepper

When ready to eat -

400g dried spaghetti
2 tbsp very good extra virgin olive oil
12 basil leaves (optional)
80g pecorino Romano, grated (completely optional)

Method

For the sauce -

heat a saucepan over a medium heat, not until smoking, but until you think something might sizzle. Add the garlic and oil at the same moment and fry until the garlic slices just barely start to colour at the edges. Add the chilli flakes if using, then straight after, the tomatoes.
Season with salt and pepper and simmer, stirring often, over a low heat, until slightly thickened and with oil rising to the top: 20–30 minutes. Taste carefully for seasoning.
When ready to serve, boil the pasta in abundant, well-salted water (10g per litre). Meanwhile, heat the sauce in a wide pan over a medium heat. Drain the pasta when a minute more al dente than you like to eat it (ie undercooked), reserving some of the cooking water.
Add the pasta to the sauce with a splash of its cooking water, then increase the heat to high. Stir continuously; the pasta should be al dente, but cooked to your liking, the sauce thickly coating. You’ll likely need to add a splash more cooking water, but not so much that the sauce runs
from the pasta.
Stir in the olive oil and the basil, if using. Taste a final time for seasoning, then serve on warmed plates, without cheese, or with the pecorino Romano.

Variations

Leontina’s Tomato Sauce & Spaghetti

Leontina was a benevolent lady, forged of pure kindness, who cared for my mum as a toddler, came to help care for me in my first months and, a decade or so later, did the same for my sister Rachel. Years later, when she was retired to her final home in a convent, she came to visit us in Sperlonga. There, she did something that shocked me: she put all the ingredients in the sauce (bar the basil and oil, which went in at the end) raw into a small saucepan along with a tiny, whole onion, and simply boiled it for maybe twenty or thirty minutes. When she was satisfied, she blended the sauce and…. ecco! She stirred in some basil and oil, then used the sauce to dress spaghetti. It was very delicious.

Pici al Aglione

Aglione is a giant garlic, a different variety of the same species that is sold as elephant garlic in the UK. It has a much milder flavour than regular garlic, so you can use more. Replace the garlic in the recipe on with 200g peeled, chopped aglione or elephant garlic (or 100g peeled regular or wet/‘green’ garlic, chopped), and add 60ml white wine to the sauce when cooking it down. Replace the spaghetti with 500g fresh pici, or 400g dried pici, and omit the basil. This is also good with penne or spaghetti.

Penne all’Arrabbiata

Increase the chilli to 1 tsp chilli flakes plus 1 fresh red chilli with its seeds, finely chopped, for a spicy tomato sauce, and double the garlic to 4 cloves; do not omit the basil, it is essential here. This is typically served with penne, but is also good with spaghettini and is, on balance, better without cheese.

Also good with: bucatini, cavatelli, calamarata/mezzi paccheri, ditali/ditalini, farfalle, fettuccine, fusilli, gnocchi, linguine, mafaldine, orecchiette, paccheri, pappardelle, penne, ravioli, rigatoni/tortiglioni, spaghetti, spaghettini, tagliatelle, tonnarelli, ziti/candele

Extra Virgin Olive Oil

From £7.65

Filippo Berio Extra Virgin Olive Oil has a distinctive, rich and fruity flavour that beautifully complements fresh ingredients. Perfect for sauces, marinades, drizzling and dipping, it’s a versatile addition to everyday cooking.