Traditional Spaghetti with Tomato Sauce – Made by Nonna!
Spaghetti with tomato sauce is one of the most soul-warming, traditional Italian dishes. It is beloved around the world for its warm, inviting flavors and aromas. But no matter how good you think your recipe is, I promise it’s no match for my Nonna’s! Her generation truly perfected pastaciutta.
Today, we will be cooking a simplistic yet exquisite spaghetti and tomato sauce dish that will blow you away. This recipe is perfect for vegetarians, and by removing cheese, it can even be enjoyed by vegans. Get ready to have your lives changed and start wowing your dinner guests.
Watch the Spaghetti with Tomato Sauce video recipe:
How to make SPAGHETTI with TOMATO SAUCE Like an Italian Nonna
Vincenzo’s Plate Tips (Straight from Nonna!)
Homemade is Always the Best
My Nonna always makes her own pasta by hand and bottles her own homemade tomato sauce. You can certainly use your favorite brands, but you’re always going to have a better meal when you put in the extra work and prepare your food with love.
Don’t Skimp on Oil
With this recipe, go wild with the extra virgin olive oil! Nonna doesn’t measure out careful portions, and neither should you. Pour your oil generously into the bottom of the pot before simmering your vegetables.
Add Every Drop of the Sauce
It’s inevitable that some of the sauce will stick to the side of your jar, but you want to make use of all of it! Nonna adds a tiny bit of water to the jar so that she can capture the remainder of the sauce and add it to her fried vegetables.
Add Celery
Once your sauce is simmering, toss in a washed stick of fresh celery. Celery is aromatic, and it offers a very subtle change in flavor. Letting it “sweat out” its sweetness into the sauce will make things even better.
Give It Time
Cook Pasta Gently
Keep It Simple
How to Serve Spaghetti and Tomato Sauce
Having sauce on the bottom and top will create evenly distributed flavor. Finish things off by drizzling another layer of fresh sauce on top, sprinkling plenty of cheese, and adding a fresh basil leaf. Perfection!
Spaghetti and Tomato Sauce Recipe
Equipment
- 2 Large pots
- 1 Chopping-board
- 1 knife
- 1 Wooden spatula
- 1 wooden spoon
- 1 Ladle
- 1 Strainer
- 1 Serving plate
Ingredients
- Spaghetti preferably homemade
- Tomato sauce preferably homemade
- 1/4 Whole onion
- 1/2 Whole carrot
- 1 Stick celery
- Fresh basil as much as you like
- Extra Virgin Olive Oil as much as required
- Salt as much as required
- Parmesan cheese as much as you like
Instructions
To Prepare and Cook the Sauce
- Pour a generous amount of oil into your pot and turn the heat to high.
- Chop onion and carrot finely and add to the oil. Stir and let it fry for a couple of minutes.
- Reduce the heat and add your tomato sauce. As it simmers, add a small amount of salt and a stick of celery.
- Let the tomato sauce come to a boil then let it simmer for at least half an hour. The longer you cook it the better.
- When the oil has risen to the top, and the sauce has receded, add fresh basil. Cover and remove from heat.
- Bring water to a boil then add some salt to the water.
- Add spaghetti and then cook for 2-3 minutes and cover it with a lid before it boils.
- Continue to let it simmer until it reaches Al Dente texture then strain the water out.
To Serve the Spaghetti and Tomato Sauce
- Add a small amount of sauce and fresh parmesan cheese to your plate then spoon drained pasta onto the sauce.
- Add another generous amount of sauce and cheese to the pasta. Mix well.
- Then finish by adding a fresh layer of sauce and cheese to the plate, as well as a fresh basil leaf.
Video
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Interesting that there is no garlic in your sauce recipe!!
I prefer a lighter flavour, because adding garlic will overpower the dish.
No garlic?
Garlic is not necessary for this dish as I believe that the strong flavour of garlic can overpower the delicate flavour of tomatoes, and I prefer to let the tomatoes be the star of the dish.
I know it says you don’t need to measure the oil but how much tomato sauce do you add? There’s no measurement listed. Thank you!
A good rule of thumb is to start with 1 can (14.5 ounces) of tomato sauce for every 1 pound of ground beef. You can always add more tomato sauce later if you need to.