Of all the Italian dishes that one could (and can love), for me there is a no equal to the quick, delicious and simple Spaghetti with tomato sauce and basil.
Living in Canada, we are blessed to be living in a harmonious and multicultural country that is Canada. Here in Toronto, we boast of having approx. half a million people of Italian descent. One such family are our neighbors. The lady of the house is Sicilian and the man being Pugliese, from Bari.
My earliest recollections of having this dish are from having a lunch at an Italian friend’s home and on the many occasions that I would be served a bowl of pasta at our neighbors.
Like any of the best pasta recipes, this one relies on quality ingredients, straight-forward recipe and a sauce that’s prepped and ready to be tossed in the time it take for your spaghetti to be cooked.
This recipe requires some good tomato sauce, be it your family’s homemade batch or a good can of plum tomatoes available at your grocer. More and more and year by year this product has improved. Gone are the days of tasting tin or an acidic can of tomatoes.
These days many producers are lining the cans – buh-bye canned/tin taste. You need a good quality olive oil but nothing too fruity or acidic as those types of olive oils can overpower a tomato sauce. Save those olive oils for your salads.
Choose your cheese. You have either a tangy Parmesan or a saltier Romano cheese. My preference is Romano cheese. It’s all about personal tastes. As for the sauce, sometimes I’m in the mood for a smooth sauce and I’ll blitz the plum tomatoes with my hand blender. Lately, I’ve been in a chunky mood…hand crushed plum tomatoes are my fancy of late (and tomato-stained shirts).
The most important facet of a Spaghetti with tomato and basil is the basil. Fresh basil. Don’t you dare use that dried stuff labeled as basil at the supermarket. You need fresh leaves of Genovese Basilico. Hand-tear it or chiffonade it and drop in the sauce just when your tossing the spaghetti.
Every time I make this sauce, I taste Italy (visited once), my kitchen (for that brief cooking time) gives away to smell like an Italian kitchen and when the pasta is served before me, I taste that pasta when I was a child. I’m sitting at my Italian neighbors’ table. I’m 12 years old again.
Spaghetti With Tomato and Basil
(serves 4-6)
1/4 cup olive oil
1 package of dry spaghetti
1 can (28 oz.) plum tomatoes, hand crushed (or 3 cups grated fresh tomato)
5 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
sea salt and freshly ground pepper
1 cup of fresh basil leaves, hand-torn or cut in a chiffonade
some pasta water
Grated Romano or Parmesan cheese
extra-virgin olive oil
- Get a large pot of water to boil. Add a good amount of salt and add your pasta to boil. Cook according to package instructions (usually 6-7 minutes).
- In a large skillet, add your olive oil over medium-high heat and add the chopped garlic. As soon as you can start to smell the garlic wafting from the olive oil, add your hand-crushed plum tomatoes and bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer, stirring occasionally and season with some salt and pepper. Reduce the sauce until the most of the water has evaporated and you’ve reached a thick and slightly chunky tomato sauce.
- Add some grated cheese and adjust seasoning with salt and pepper and set aside.
- When your pasta has cooked, reserve some pasta water and drain your spaghetti and then add to the sauce along with your basil. Toss to incorporate everything and if the sauce seems to dry, add some of the reserved pasta water and continue to toss.
- Add some more grated cheese, toss again. Divide the pasta into individual servings or serve “family style” on a platter. Drizzle some extra-virgin olive oil, some fresh black pepper and and some grated cheese on top.
A wonderful pasta dish! Tasty and summery. Perfect!
Cheers,
Rosa
OH Peter, that looks so good! I want some right now.
Love that fresh basil!
I got a bit of a chill when you mentioned the dried supermarket basil! Ha ha ha. This is one of my favorite quick meals (or when I can’t think of anything anymore for some reason). Looks beautiful too!
A gorgeous plate of pasta, Peter. Another meal that brings back amazing memories again! I sure love these tasty travels!
I think that indeed this is one of the best and simplest of pasta dishes around. I love your photos and this just looks amazingly fresh and beautiful!
That just looks like sunshine on a plate! How wonderful. I agree about the Romano – I prefer pecorino to parmesan a lot of the time.
This is the essence of Italian cooking Peter: simple but excellent ingredients. I love this dish and with all these ripe tomatoes around I’ll be making it soon. Plus, the basil in my garden needs some snippin’….
Simpl, easy to make, but so so deicous. I too make this, never though of adding so much basil, will try them next time.
Good job Peter on the plate and in the narrative. Next time you make this try saving some basil for the dinner table. We always have a bowl of basil for everyone to tear up over their plates. Like grating cheese over the top, the raw basil is a great finishing touch. It adds a freshness to the cooked sauce and a different texture.
A simple, tasty, summer dish!!
Perfect Peter!!!
Have a nice week!!
One of my absolute favourites! I’ve even started growing my own basil on my kitchen balcony. Great job. – I still haven’t re-sent the apron, but I did get it and it is ready to go. Soon I promise!
This certainly is the perfect dish. It reminds me of our neighbor in Italy whom we called “Nonna Anna” and she tossed cooked pasta so simply with chopped fresh tomatoes, fresh chopped basil and olive oil. What a beautiful dish!
This is Italian cooking at its best – simple but fresh, flavorful ingredients. One of my favorites.
i think this is one of your very best creations, peter. i’m a simple gal, and i appreciate fresh ingredients and this particular combination of them. :)
It’s simple and tasty. Period! I love making this and it’s a great stand by dish. Just beautiful!
For a Greek guy you do Italian very well too! This is one of my standby dishes in my home. We eat pasta every week and tomato and basil is one of our favorites.
Hey, this is a recipe for my lazybones weeknight pasta! Fresh tomato, basil and nippy cheese are just manna from the Gods. I like to use cherry tomatoes though, for that summer fresh taste.
Simply divine! nothing can beat fresh tomatoes & basil together. & those are some awesome basil growing in the pot. mine are struggling a lot & half of them died:-(
I have to say I make this alot and love this dish!
I could eat spaghetti three times a day (and have been known to do so on occasion) and this looks absolutely delicious!
This looks great. It’s a very traditional, very comforting dish that probably brings a big smile to any Italian’s face just reading it!
“Of all the Italian dishes that one could (and can love), for me there is a no equal to the quick, delicious and simple Spaghetti with tomato sauce and basil.”
I couldn’t agree more!
Simple elegance is hard to beat. Flavorful tomatoes, pungent cheese and heady basil do it for me every time. Enjoy the day.
It is very comforting; and I agree with your assessment of toronto and its amazing cultural diversity. It is wonderful.
It really is so important to use the best ingredients when doing a dish like this to really make it shine
Thanks for passing from my blog even if I haven’t been around lately. That spaghetti looks really tempting.
Simple and perfect. Nicely done Peter.
A simple pasta can always be appreciated.
Bravo Peter! La ricetta autentica e’ piu’ tradizionale!
A good tomato-basil sauce is unbeatable and, to me, the most comforting dish of all! I like that you kept it traditional by just using garlic. A lot of people go for the onion-garlic-chili combo, which also tastes good, but it’s not so traditional. Mi nonna insists that whnever you use garlic, you musn’t use cheese… she’s a bit of a purist, you see. But, nonna, what does she know?! I use a combo of Parmigiano Reggiano and Pecorino Romano, that’s my choice :)
My favorite type of pasta dish!!!
I love pasta dishes of all kinds and there are so many possibilities out there, but nothing beats spaghetti with a good tomato sauce. One of the best things about summer is having access to good tomatoes so I can use them to make sauce.
That’s handsdown my favorite pasta too. Sometimes I don’t even cook the tomatoes.
Your basil looks healthy! Mine is all tall and leggy.
Nice bunch of fresh basil. This is a recipe to make. Looks fragrant.
Delicious, basic tomato sauce! I make this stuff almost weekly, so this week I am trying your recipe. Looking forward to it!
My garden is producing enough basil for this dish. Now if only the tomato would hurry up and grow!
When I lived in Montreal as a child, my Italian neighbour would take care of me after school until my parents got home. I remember walking in to the house to find her making pasta like this. Simple, light on the sauce and full of fresh flavors from her small garden. I can almost smell it now!
Î’eautiful recipe, as always! Simple but full of colors and taste!…
Kisses from Crete.
hello peter it’s been a while! ‘im glad to see your new place!! this spaghetti brings me to italy!! love love the photos they make me drool!!
This is defintely one of my favourite ways with pasta Peter. Would I love that huge pot of basil ripe for the picking.
Nothing beats tomato, basil and pasta….simple ingredients, but when thrown together like this…heavenly!!!
Hi Peter, looks fresh and delicious. I’m on a spaghetti kick lately (it comes in waves) and I like the thicker spaghetti your using.
Totally in agreement, this is the best, full of flavor and great colors = a feast for the eyes! A winning combination!
I think I could eat the whole dish by myself. A winning combination of flavours.
That looks beautiful!
I agree Peter. Just like a pizza, the best pasta is with tomatoes & basil :) And cheese, of course.
This looks so good Peter, it has been ages since I have had pasta. I want one of those chickens that I saw on your header with it.
Peter you are just so good at making me want to eat everything you make! That really does look yummy. Great pictures.
Simplicity at its best! Lovely photos, indeed.
Yes indeed, simplicity at it’s very best. What’s not to love about it. LOL on the chunky mood & the tomato stained shirts!We’re getting a good crop of tomatoes here, & thankfully my basil looks quite like yours, sans the pink flower he he! Gotta try this soon!
Hi Peter … I’ve had the hardest time accessing your posts for a couple of weeks now. The pictures will load, but then it just hangs there without words! Ugh! I’m having much better luck today! My heritage boasts southern italian roots, and you get a big thumbs up from me on this dish! There is nothing quite like a good quality plate o’pasta to rejuvinate one’s spirit! Love it! :-)
Simply and tasty! Your basil plant is awesome!!!
Couldn’t resist, made the Spaghetti with Tomato and Basil for lunch today! Amazing, thank you so much for sharing.
Cheers!
its a great dish very underrated!
altho from my experience in italy, there is no garlic and cheese is not added and mixed in the sauce only upon serving
This is one of my favorite midweek meals because it’s so easy. BTW: I LOVE the giant pot of basil. I’m so jealous.
You have some really nice looking basil growing there. It would go perfectly in a simple tomato sauce like this.