Chef Graziella
Agnolotti del Plin
The pinched pasta of Piedmont, each tiny parcel sealed with thumb and forefinger, filled with braised meat that has surrendered to hours of slow cooking. Butter or broth. Nothing more.
Culinary Explorer
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Spaghetti al Pomodoro
Created by
Four ingredients. Fifteen minutes. The dish that proves restraint is harder than excess, and that Neapolitan simplicity took centuries to perfect.
Main Dishes
Italian, Neapolitan
Weeknight
Quick Meal
5 min
Active Time
15 min cook•20 min total
Yield4 servings
This is not a recipe for tomato sauce. This is the tomato sauce, the one that requires exactly four ingredients and the wisdom to use nothing else.
The garlic here is a whisper. You crush the cloves, infuse the oil, then remove them. What remains is perfume, not presence. This is the difference between cooking Italian food and cooking what Americans imagine Italian food to be.
Simple does not mean easy. It means every ingredient must earn its place. It means your technique must be sound because there is nowhere to hide mistakes. When your tomatoes are San Marzano, grown in volcanic soil at the foot of Vesuvius, you do not need to add anything. You need to get out of their way.
What you keep out is as significant as what you put in. No onion. No oregano. No red pepper flakes. No Parmigiano. I know this may trouble you. I know you want to add things. Resist.
For two centuries after Spanish ships brought tomatoes from Peru, Italians treated them as ornamental curiosities, pretty and possibly poisonous. It was the lazzaroni, the street-dwelling poor of 18th-century Naples, who discovered what the nobility missed: these strange fruits, cooked down with nothing but oil and salt, made cheap dried pasta extraordinary. The tomato's triumph began in Naples, and pasta al pomodoro remains Neapolitan to its core.
The technique, the tradition, and the story behind every dish.
Discover Culinary ExplorerIngredients
spaghetti
Quantity
1 pound
San Marzano tomatoes
Quantity
1 can (28 ounces)
whole peeled
extra virgin olive oil
Quantity
1/4 cup, plus more for finishing
garlic cloves
Quantity
3
peeled and lightly crushed
fresh basil
Quantity
1 small bunch (about 15 leaves)
kosher salt
Quantity
to taste
sugar (optional)
Quantity
pinch, if needed
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| spaghetti | 1 pound |
| San Marzano tomatoeswhole peeled | 1 can (28 ounces) |
| extra virgin olive oil | 1/4 cup, plus more for finishing |
| garlic clovespeeled and lightly crushed | 3 |
| fresh basil | 1 small bunch (about 15 leaves) |
| kosher salt | to taste |
| sugar (optional) | pinch, if needed |
Equipment Needed
- •Large 12-inch skillet or sauté pan
- •Large 8-quart pot for pasta
- •Wooden spoon
- •Spider strainer or tongs for transferring pasta
Instructions
- 1
Infuse the oil
Pour the olive oil into a large skillet and add the crushed garlic cloves. Place over medium-low heat. The garlic should sizzle gently, never brown. When it turns pale gold and you can smell it across the kitchen, after about 2 minutes, remove and discard the cloves. What remains is perfume, not presence. This is the difference between cooking Italian food and cooking what Americans imagine Italian food to be.
Crush the garlic with the flat of your knife. Never use a garlic press. Those devices create acrid mush that poisons everything it touches. - 2
Add the tomatoes
Pour the San Marzano tomatoes into the skillet with the infused oil. Crush them with a wooden spoon or your hands as they go in. Add a generous pinch of salt. Raise the heat to medium-high until the sauce begins to bubble, then reduce to a steady simmer. Cook uncovered for 12 to 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. The sauce should reduce and thicken slightly, the raw tomato smell replaced by something sweeter and deeper.
- 3
Cook the pasta
While the sauce simmers, bring abundant salted water to a vigorous boil. The water should taste like the sea. Add the spaghetti and cook until one minute short of the package directions. The pasta will finish cooking in the sauce. Reserve one cup of the starchy pasta water before draining.
Abundant means at least 6 quarts for one pound of pasta. Crowded pasta sticks together and cooks unevenly. Give it room to move. - 4
Marry pasta and sauce
Taste the sauce and adjust the salt. If the tomatoes are acidic, add a small pinch of sugar. Tear half the basil leaves and stir them into the sauce. Add the drained pasta directly to the skillet. Toss vigorously over medium heat for one minute, adding splashes of pasta water as needed. The sauce should coat the strands, not pool at the bottom. The starch in the water helps the sauce cling.
- 5
Finish and serve
Remove from heat. Drizzle with your best olive oil and tear the remaining basil over the top. Toss once more. Divide among warm bowls immediately. Once the pasta is sauced, serve it promptly, inviting your guests and family to put off talking and start eating. There is no cheese with this pasta. The tomato needs nothing else.
Chef Tips
- •San Marzano tomatoes are not negotiable. Canned tomatoes from the San Marzano region, grown in volcanic soil, have a sweetness and low acidity that no other tomato matches. Look for the D.O.P. seal on the can. Imitations are everywhere.
- •The pasta water is your secret weapon. That starchy liquid emulsifies the sauce and helps it cling to the spaghetti. Without it, you have sauce sitting in a puddle beneath naked pasta.
- •Serve this in warm bowls. Cold ceramic saps the heat from pasta in seconds. Run the bowls under hot water while the pasta cooks, then dry them quickly before plating.
- •No cheese. I will repeat this because you will be tempted. The tomato is pure, the basil is fragrant, the olive oil is grassy. Parmigiano would overwhelm them all. Trust the simplicity.
Advance Preparation
- •The sauce can be made several hours ahead and left in the pan at room temperature. Reheat gently before adding the pasta.
- •Do not sauce the pasta ahead of time. It will absorb the liquid and become gummy. Pasta waits for no one.
Frequently Asked Questions
Nutrition Information
1 serving (about 400g)
Calories
610 calories
Total Fat
19 g
Saturated Fat
3 g
Trans Fat
0 g
Unsaturated Fat
15 g
Cholesterol
0 mg
Sodium
730 mg
Total Carbohydrates
94 g
Dietary Fiber
6 g
Sugars
9 g
Protein
17 g
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