Red Sauce Pastaરેડ સોસ પાસ્તા
Pasta in a sauce made from real tomatoes, which costs less than a jar and tastes considerably better. Thirty minutes from start to table.
Ingredients
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- 250 g pasta (penne or fusilli)
- 5 ripe tomatoes
- 1 onion, 6 garlic cloves
- 1 capsicum, 1 carrot, sweetcorn
- 1 tsp oregano, chilli flakes, a pinch of sugar
- 3 tbsp oil or butter, salt
- Grated cheese
Method
- Boil the pasta in salted water as the packet says, saving a cup of the water before draining.
- Blanch the tomatoes for 2 minutes, peel and blend them.
- Fry the garlic and onion in oil, then the vegetables for 3 minutes.
- Add the tomato purée, oregano, chilli flakes, sugar and salt, and cook 10 minutes until thick.
- Add the pasta and loosen with a little of the reserved water.
- Top with cheese and serve hot.
Tips
- That reserved pasta water is what binds sauce to pasta, so don't throw it away.
- The pinch of sugar balances the acidity of the tomatoes.
Storing and reheating
Kept separately, the sauce lasts four or five days in the fridge and two months in the freezer. Dressed pasta keeps two days but absorbs the sauce and firms up. Reheat it in a pan with two spoons of water or milk, stirring on low heat. Microwaving it dry turns pasta rubbery.
What you can swap
- No ripe tomatoes? Use a cup of ready tomato puree and less water, since puree is already thick. Two tablespoons of tomato ketchup also help balance sourness and sweetness.
- Dried mixed herbs or dried basil stand in for oregano. Do not reach for kasuri methi or garam masala, which push the sauce towards tasting like an Indian curry.
- Without cheese, stir two tablespoons of malai or milk into the sauce for a pink sauce with a softer edge. Grated paneer works as a topping, though it will not melt.
- Macaroni or any other shape can replace penne. Just check the packet, because cooking times differ by shape.
What to serve with it
Serve it at evening snack time or at a home party with garlic bread. It goes into school tiffins too, with the chilli dialled down. In Indian homes it has become the standard Sunday afternoon meal or the thing you make when guests arrive.
Mistakes to avoid
- Do not rinse the pasta in cold water after draining. It washes off the surface starch, and the sauce then slides off instead of clinging.
- Salt the boiling water generously. That is the only moment pasta takes on seasoning from inside. Salt added later never reaches the centre of the grain.
- Do not let the garlic go dark brown. Burnt garlic makes the whole sauce bitter, and neither sugar nor cream will take that out.
- Do not add cheese over high heat. Take the pan off the flame first, or the cheese goes stringy and the oil separates out of the sauce.
Questions people ask
Why does my sauce taste raw and sour?
The tomatoes were not cooked long enough. After the puree goes in it needs a full ten minutes on low heat, until the sauce thickens, darkens and you can see oil separating at the edges. A pinch of sugar and enough salt handle whatever sourness is left.
My pasta clumps together after draining. What do I do?
Toss the drained pasta with a teaspoon of oil. The real fix, though, is to drain it straight into the sauce. Pasta left sitting in a colander will set into a lump within ten minutes.
How do I stop the pasta going mushy?
Take it off a minute before the time on the packet. It should still feel slightly firm at the centre, because it carries on cooking for another two minutes once it is in the sauce. Use plenty of water too; in a crowded pot the pieces stick together and cook unevenly.
