There are some recipes that are must haves in our repertoire. Basic tomato sauce is one of them. Another is a simple sauce for pasta which is made from that basic tomato sauce! Why? Just in case a four year old pesters you until they get noodles for dinner! My kid loves noodles. And while I am all about buttered noodles, a good tomato sauce is much appreciated after being only allowed to make buttered noodles for the last month.
There are lots of noodles in the world all waiting to be covered, and we want to make sure that we cover them with the tastiest sauces possible. A simple tomato sauce for pasta is easy to master and hey, who doesn’t love a pasta with tomato sauce! Once you have this pasta sauce in your repertoire, with little tweaks it is easy to expand its use to meats, fish, etc. For example – a simple addition of anchovies, capers and olives and you have a great puttanesca perfect with salmon and chicken! With a little inspiration the sky is the limit with this sauce!
Trotolle Pasta with Tomato Sauce
- 1 lb of trotolle pasta or a pasta shape that you like
- 2 cups of fresh tomato sauce (canned, plain tomato sauce will do in a pinch)
- 2 cloves garlic
- a big bunch of fresh basil – 10-15 leaves
- Paremsan Cheese
- 2 tbsp Olive Oil
- Salt and Pepper
- Peel and chop the garlic finely. Clean the basil and dry the leaves in paper towel.
- In a large pot of boiling water cook the pasta al dente per the instructions that came with the pasta.
- In a large sauté pan over medium heat, heat 2 tbsp olive oil. When the oil is hot add the garlic and sauté until fragrant. Add the tomato sauce, stir well and bring to a simmer.
- Simmer the sauce until it is reduced by about half. Add basil leaves and continue to simmer. Season with salt and pepper to taste keeping in mind that it will be served with Parmesan cheese which is a little salty already.
- When the pasta is done, drain the noodles reserving some of the cooking water. Add the pasta to the sauce and toss to coat. If the sauce is a little dry, add some of the cooking water.
- Serve with freshly grated parmesan.
- You can use any shape of pasta you like. They curly ones are fun and they do a nice job of holding on to the sauce!
- Don’t be afraid of reducing the sauce too much. When you add the pasta to the sauce some of the water will come with it so the sauce will be rehydrated. The water will also contain some starch which will help the sauce thicken a little and stick to the pasta which is exactly what we want to achieve. The sauce should coat the pasta and there should not be a big puddle left at the bottom.
- Parmesan cheese is the king of cheese, but a few big chunks of mozzarella cheese are a nice addition. Pecorino will also work!
- When seasoning the sauce with salt and pepper, keep in mind that it will be served with Parmesan which is already a little salty.
- TIP: Want to cheat? Use canned plain tomato sauce instead of fresh and season it with the garlic and basil.
Here is the video for making the basic tomato sauce one more time.
Keep Eating! Keep Innovating!
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