Recipe: Spaghetti Pomodoro

http://toastmeetsjam.com/living/orange-october-in-san-francisco/ I’ve always been a fan of Spaghetti Pomodoro, or in English, Spaghetti with Tomato Sauce. I remember a year in my life when I ate spaghetti pomodoro for lunch every single day for an entire year. I can never read/smell/see spaghetti in any medium without craving spaghetti pomodoro immediately.

Yesterday on instagram I posted the pictures of my preparing then eating spaghetti pomodoro and I was asked for the recipe so I posted a picture of the apron with my recipe. Dear Ansam asked me to post about it, I said to myself chinna ma yeswa then I thought why not? So there goes, you have the recipe, all it takes is a few minutes and voila! Its ready to devour on your plate.

It was no surprise then that when I went to Italy on my honeymoon that I snatched this apron because it had the classic Spaghetti pomodoro recipe written on it. I’ve used that apron to cook ever since I got married and I’ve used that recipe for all the tomato sauces I made ever since.

The problem in Kuwaiti households is that they think the tomato sauce used in Italian dishes is the same as “daqqos”, which is simply horrible! I even heard someone before actually state that why bother with a tomato sauce when there is daqqos on the table, ugh! And don’t get me started on how the “Makarooniya” is overcooked until its mushy, like cerelac!

You can add vegetables before the tomatoes, you can add tomato paste, you can add cherry tomatoes during the cooking process, the world is your oyster! In Kuwait people would rather used mashed fresh tomatoes or tomatoes with peels and you end up with shriveled tomato peels in the sauce which is disgusting. Italians use canned tomatoes, not real tomatoes, that’s what makes all the difference! Mafeha shay tra. If your concerned about the health benefits and such, use the organic ones available in TSC and Dean & Deluca.

My husband is never satisfied unless he uses one of his pasta mixes on top of the cheese. If he could go to restaurants with this, he would. Kinda insulting to my culinary skills though.

You can top the spaghetti with any cheese you like: mozzarella, freshly grated parmesan, cheddar, a mix of cheeses. You can also top it with any herbs: oregano, basil, etc. You can add chili flakes to the sauce and you’ve got an Arabiata. You can top it with herby breadcrumbs if you want to add a crunch to it. You can even add a dolop of greek yoghurt and mix it -it would taste awesome!- or add a little cream while it cooks to have pink pasta! A simple dish can go a long way, and it only needs a few ingredients. You can make gluten free spaghetti pomodoro by using gluten free noodles! Easy, no?

If you decide to try it, let me know how it goes, oh and in Italian, buon appetito 

I like my tomato sauce thick, herby, fragrant, with a touch of sweetness. I like my spaghetti firm and aldente. The thinner the spaghetti the better too, like no. 3 or no. 1 which I believe is called angel hair pasta. How do you eat your Spaghetti?

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