Spaghetti with tomato sauce and Mediterranean herbs

It is easy to say spaghetti with tomato sauce, or, as we would say, spaghetti al pomodoro. How many recipes are out there? One for each family? Maybe even more. It depends on who is cooking that day, on the tomatoes you have at hand, on what you are craving in that moment. Pure tomato flavour, or maybe with some garlic? Do you prefer onion? A generous handful of fresh herbs, the heat of chili pepper or maybe just a fresh tomato purée, barely touched by the heat?

Just by mentioning spaghetti with tomato sauce, you get in contact with a waterfall of memories. I can perfectly see a fork hungrily twirling the spaghetti, a smiling mouth stained with tomato sauce, a piece of bread to clean the plate. Spaghetti are the protagonists of quick lunches made when you’ve spent the whole day on your feet: you boil the pasta, open a jar of summer pomarola, and you’re set. But they are also the stars of Sunday gatherings, a table crowded with people, a huge bowl of spaghetti with tomato sauce, and a wedge of Parmigiano Reggiano passed from hand to hand.

Spaghetti al pomodoro – Spaghetti with tomato sauce and Mediterranean herbs

Cherry tomatoes, good extra virgin olive oil, a clove of garlic, thyme and oregano. You don’t need anything else to make a healthy bowl of spaghetti with tomato sauce, with bold Mediterranean flavours.

More recipes for pasta with tomato sauce from the blog archive

• Burst cherry tomato sauce for pasta. Choose small ripe cherry tomatoes: the variety of colours and textures helps, though a bowl of ordinary plump red cherry tomatoes would work as well. Dose basil, garlic and chili pepper to taste: I prefer to be generous with basil (and olive oil), shy with chili pepper and moderate with garlic. Just follow your family preferences. Toast the pine nuts before throwing them into the pan. If you are in a hurry just add them along the other ingredients, as I made today. Finish with some grated parmigiano or pecorino for a rounder and more intense sauce.
• Pasta with tomato sauce, guanciale and olives. I do not fry the minced garlic in olive oil before adding the tomatoes, as you would do in a traditional garlicky tomato sauce. I cook everything together, adding the salt at the beginning so that it can extract the water from the tomatoes and cook them down. Do it for a diet purpose, as you want to avoid fried olive oil, do it for a flavour purpose, as you prefer a fresher tomato sauce, or do it to save up time, but try it and this will become your go-to tomato sauce recipe.  

Related posts:

Macaroni & Cheese, from "Home Alone" Pasta e patate – Pasta with potatoes, a dish from the South of Italy Spaghetti aglio e olio with slow-roasted tomatoes Raw tomato sauce for pasta, the Italian pasta alla crudaiola.