pasta al pomodoro

GialloZafferano’s selected pasta al pomodoro uses spaghetti with a smooth tomato-and-basil sauce. The recipe presents this preparation as an Italian classic whose character rests on slowly cooked peeled tomatoes and fresh basil.

Extra-virgin olive oil begins the sauce with a peeled, halved garlic clove whose central germ has been removed. Peeled tomatoes and salt follow, and the covered sauce simmers gently.

The garlic is removed before the cooked tomatoes pass through a food mill. This gives the sauce a smooth, even texture rather than the chunky finish of other tomato-pasta versions.

The purée returns to the pan with basil leaves. Spaghetti cook separately in salted water, then drain al dente directly into the sauce for a brief final mixing over the heat.

The plated spaghetti may receive additional fresh basil as desired. The selected sauce keeps the tomato, olive oil and basil combination at the centre of its flavour.