PASTA & TOMATO SAUCE
I adore spaghetti with red sauce. Any of it and all of it. I have it at home, at casual restaurants, at high-end restaurants and when ever I can. I recently took a poll of your favorite comfort food. Choosing between pasta, sandwiches, soup and roast chicken, pasta was awarded more than 50% of the votes. I’m happy our tastes align.
Because we’re looking for comfort, we’re including the holy trinity of bases for this recipe, onion, celery and carrot. We’re going to add an extra amount of tomato juice and reduce it by half to get the full-bodied taste of tomato sauce. I’ve also included ground beef for an additional layer of depth, but the recipe works just as well without it. For the type of pasta, the crazier the pasta the more satisfied I am, I like using fusilli pasta because the sauce gets caught up in all its grooves. But feel free to use whichever type you have in your pantry.
DETAILS
Comfort food at its best, with a prep time of 30 minutes and a cooking time of 35 minutes.
INGREDIENTS
2 stalks of celery
2 carrots
1 large onion
6 large tomatoes
1 cup of cherry tomatoes
2 tablespoons of tomato paste
1/4 cup water for the tomato sauce
200 grams ground beef
1 nib of butter
¼ teaspoon nutmeg
2 tablespoons of salt (1 for the sauce and 1 for cooking the pasta)
10 cracks of fresh black pepper
4 tablespoons of olive oil
450 grams of pasta: one box or bag
METHOD
Step 1:Prep
Roughly chop the celery, carrots and onions into quarters. Place them in an electric blender and pulse 5 times. We’re looking for a diced sized consistency. You can do this by hand as well, but the electric blender is first, easier and second, produces consistently sized ingredients.
Step 2:Base
Place a deep skillet onto the stovetop at medium high heat. Add the olive oil to generously cover the base of the skillet. When heated, add the diced celery, carrots and onions. Add the salt and the pepper and cook for 6 minutes until all the ingredients are well wilted.
Step 3: Tomatoes and beef
While the base is wilting, grate 4 tomatoes into a deep bowl. Add the tomato paste, mix until the paste is dissolved, add the water and set aside.
Cut 2 tomatoes into 6 pieces each. Once the base is cooked (after 6 minutes), add the meat, the nutmeg and the pieces of tomato and cherry tomatoes and stir/cook for another 3 minutes.
Step 4: Tomato Sauce
Add the grated tomato mixture to the base and lower your temperature to a low heat. Simmer for 20 minutes. We are looking to reduce the tomato sauce by half. Depending on how juicy your tomatoes are, the 20 minutes by be 15 or 25 minutes.
Step 6: Pasta
While the sauce is simmering, place a large deep pot on the stovetop. Fill the pot ¾ full with water, add the salt and bring it to a boil. Add the pasta and cook until al dente, check the back of your pasta bag for details, but it usually takes around 8 minutes. Drain out the water from the pasta.
Step 7: Combining
Once the pasta has simmered for 20 minutes, add the cooked pasta and butter to the sauce and combine. If there is too much pasta leave some aside. Let them sit over the heat for 5 minutes as you mix them together.
Step 8: Serving
Add cheese, olive oil, chopped parsley or nothing at all and enjoy.
Photography, Recipe, Food Styling, Prop Styling by: TALA SOUBRA
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