🍝 Spaghetti with Garlic Marinara
Ingredients
- 1 lb spaghetti
- 28 oz crushed tomatoes
- 4 garlic cloves
- 1 onion
- Parmesan cheese
- Fresh basil
- 2 tbsp olive oil (pantry staple)
- Salt & pepper (pantry staple)
Instructions
- Sauté diced onion in oil until soft; add garlic for 1 min.
- Add crushed tomatoes, simmer 15 min, season with salt.
- Cook spaghetti; toss with sauce and a splash of pasta water.
- Top with parmesan and torn basil.
Tips
- Save a cup of pasta water before draining. The starch in it emulsifies with the sauce so it clings instead of sliding off.
- Add the garlic only after the onion has softened, and give it one minute. Burnt garlic turns the whole sauce bitter and there's no fixing it.
- Finish the pasta in the sauce for the last minute rather than spooning sauce on top. It absorbs flavour instead of just being coated.
Substitutions
- Crushed tomatoes
- Whole peeled tomatoes crushed by hand have better texture. Passata is smoother. Fresh tomatoes need peeling and much longer cooking.
- Parmesan
- Pecorino is sharper and saltier. Nutritional yeast for a vegan version.
- Fresh basil
- Stir in at the very end — heat destroys it. Dried basil is a different thing; add ½ tsp with the tomatoes instead.
- Spaghetti
- Any long pasta. Gluten-free pasta works but releases more starch, so use less of the pasta water.
Storage & reheating
The sauce keeps 5 days refrigerated and freezes 3 months — a double batch is the same work. Dressed pasta doesn't store well, so keep sauce and pasta separate if you expect leftovers.
Common questions
Why does my sauce taste sharp or metallic?
Canned tomatoes are acidic. A pinch of sugar, a grated carrot, or a longer simmer all round it out. Don't use baking soda — it flattens the flavour.
How long should I simmer it?
15 minutes gives a bright, fresh sauce; 45 minutes gives a deeper, sweeter one. Both are correct — they're just different sauces.
How much pasta per person?
About 4 oz (115 g) dried per person for a main course.