Spaghetti with Tomato Sauce
Family-Friendly Pasta Dinner Made in 30 Minutes
Craving a new twist on traditional spaghetti with sauce? Try this flavorful version featuring three different types of tomatoes.
Pasta, as everyone knows, is a simple-to-make, family-friendly meal--and it's especially wonderful when you can add your own personal touches to make it even that much more delicious. As a simple quick-cook dinner, you can prepare this version of Spaghetti with Tomato Sauce in about 30 minutes. Just bring the water for your pasta to a boil, and while the spaghetti cooks, you can have the rich tomato-based sauce cooking and ready for the final assembly. Rather than resort to canned sauces, this version combines three types of tomatoes--halved red cherry tomatoes, oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes, and canned petite-cut tomatoes--in a sauce that's anything but ordinary spaghetti sauce.
RECIPE
Spaghetti with Tomato Sauce
Serves 4
Coarse salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 pound spaghetti
2 tablespoons sun-dried tomato oil (from 1 jar of oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes)
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 teaspoon dried basil
1 can (28 ounces) petite-cut tomatoes with juice (petite-cut are tomatoes chopped very finely)
1/2 cup oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes, chopped
1 pound red cherry tomatoes, halved
1. Bring a large pot of boiling salted water to a boil. Add the spaghetti and cook until al dente, according to package directions.
2. Heat about 2 tablespoons oil from the sun-dried tomatoes in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the garlic and dried basil; cook until the garlic is fragrant, but not burned, about 30 seconds. Add the canned petite-cut tomatoes with the juice and the chopped sun-dried tomatoes. Simmer gently over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until the sauce becomes thick, about 15 to 20 minutes. Add the cherry tomatoes, and simmer until the tomatoes are soft, about 10 minutes.
3. Drain the spaghetti, reserving 1 cup of the pasta cooking water for loosening the sauce, if necessary. Return the pasta to the pot. Add the tomato sauce; season the mixture with salt and pepper. Toss the pasta with the tomatoes, adding the pasta water as needed if the sauce is too thick. Serve immediately.
TIPS FOR PREPARING PASTA
1. Cook pasta in a large amount of boiling salted water. You should use between 6 to 8 quarts of boiling water per pound of pasta and keep the lid off the pot to prevent the water from boiling over onto your stove.
2. Add the pasta as soon as the water reaches a rapid boil and stir well after adding your pasta. Don't start timing until after the water returns to a full boil.
3. When cooking pasta that you will serve in a baked dish, cook it for about two thirds of the recommended time on the package. This will ensure that your pasta won't be overcooked in the final dish.
