Jump to Recipe

Penne Pomodoro e Basilico – Classic Penne with Tomato-Basil Sauce

cake

Pasta with Tomato Sauce and Basil …

The beauty of this simple tomato sauce is that it can dress just about any kind or shape of pasta, to suit your taste or what happens to be in your cupboard. The quality of the tomatoes is important, if you didn’t make your salsa last summer  or you ran out (like me!) just buy high-quality canned San Marzanos or plain whole-peeled tomatoes (I personally like the Cento  tomatoes since they only contain tomatoes and basil and nothing else). photos coco zordan

 

Grated cheese, either parmesan or pecorino, is de rigueur as a topping for pasta with tomato sauce. But there are some people (italian foodies or vegans) who will say that cheese does not belong on top of any dish that is based on onion/garlic and oil. A nice variation, if you don’t care for cheese, is a bit of  freshly chopped parsley or basil.

 

Tags

The Recipe

Servings

4

Prep time

5 min.

Cooking time

12 min.

PrintPrint

Ingredients

  • 4 servings

  • 1 lb pasta (box) De Cecco

  • sauce

  • 1 lb peeled tomatoes

  • 1 onion chopped

  • 1 garlic clove (whole or chopped)

  • basil leaves (10-12)

  • 1/4 XV olive oil

  • salt

PrintPrint

Directions

for making the sauce go to the recipe

DSC06526 DSC06533 DSC06538

DSC06543 DSC06558 DSC06552

While the sauce simmers, heat the water for the pasta. Cook the spaghetti in salted water about half the time indicated by the box. Drain, reserving some of the water. Taste the sauce and adjust the seasoning if necessary.

DSC01817DSC08092

Add the pasta to the sauce and cook over medium-high heat until all the liquid is absorbed (a couple of minutes) and the pasta is al dente. If the sauce is over-reduced, use the pasta cooking water to adjust it.

DSC06596

Remove the pan from the heat; mix thoroughly until the pasta is an orangy color. Taste again and adjust the salt if necessary. Remove to a platter. Serve with extra vergine olive and freshly grated parmigiano cheese.

 

Don’t miss a recipe!

No spam is sent: only fresh recipes. unsibscribe at any time with 1 click.