Description
This delicious spaghetti sauce uses fresh tomatoes, garlic, and red pepper flakes and makes an amazing light summer pasta dish.
Ingredients
Scale
- 2 pounds of good tomatoes such as grape, cherry, beefsteak, Campari, or Heirloom. Just make sure they're delicious.
- 4 Garlic Cloves, sliced
- 1/2 teaspoon of red pepper flakes
- 3 Tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil
- 1/2 cup of water
- 1 tablespoon of butter
- Fresh Basil and/or fresh parsley for serving
- 1 pound of Spaghetti Pasta
- 1 teaspoon of Kosher Salt
- 1/2 teaspoon of freshly ground Black Pepper to taste
Instructions
- Heat the olive oil in a 3 quart Sauté Pan or 4-5 quart dutch oven over medium heat, then add the garlic and red pepper flakes. Cook, stirring frequently, for 1 minute only. Don't let it even begin to brown.
- Add the tomatoes and the water. Larger tomatoes (any non-grape or cherry tomatoes) should be quartered prior to adding them to the pan. Grape or cherry tomatoes can go in whole as the heat will burst them within a couple minutes. But you can also use a potato masher or wooden spoon to help them along.
- After all the tomatoes have bursted, simmer the tomato sauce for approximately 10 minutes. At this point you should have a jammy and fairly thick sauce. That jammy quality is what helps make a thick sauce that clings to the pasta. (pasta water helps too) Add the salt and pepper.
- Meanwhile, cook the pasta in a separate pot of boiling water until it's just shy of "al dente." You can use the box instructions as a guide, but make sure to taste a noodle before the timer is up. When the pasta is just a little too hard to eat, use tongs to transfer all of it to the fresh tomato sauce along with the butter and a 1/2 cup of pasta water.
- Stir until the sauce has thickened and is clinging nicely to the pasta. Serve the fresh tomato spaghetti sauce topped with the chopped herbs.
Keywords: Fresh Tomato Sauce, spaghetti sauce with fresh tomatoes, fresh tomato spaghetti sauce