Silky Pasta Pomodoro (Smooth Basil-Infused Tomato Sauce)

By Sprig Originals ✓ · cooked up in Sprig

Pomodoro is marinara's smoother, glossier cousin — a sauce built to cling to pasta rather than sit on top of it. Garlic is infused into olive oil and then removed, canned whole tomatoes are crushed and simmered until they lose their raw edge, and the whole thing is blended just enough to turn velvety. A knob of cold butter and a splash of starchy pasta water at the end emulsify it into something that coats every strand. Thirty-five minutes, six pantry ingredients, and it tastes like a trattoria.

Ingredients

• 2 28-ounce cans whole peeled tomatoes, preferably San Marzano or certified DOP
• 1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• 5 cloves garlic, peeled and smashed flat
• 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes (optional)
• 1 large sprig fresh basil, plus 8 leaves for finishing
• 1 1/4 teaspoons kosher salt, plus more to taste
• 1/2 teaspoon sugar (only if the tomatoes taste sharp)

• 3 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into cubes
• 1 pound spaghetti, bucatini, or rigatoni
• 3/4 cup finely grated Parmigiano-Reggiano
• 1/2 cup reserved starchy pasta water (approximate)

Instructions

1. Open both cans of tomatoes and pour them into a large bowl. Working with clean hands, crush each tomato hard enough to burst it and pull out any tough white cores or stray skins. Do not blend yet — you want texture going into the pan.
2. Combine the olive oil and smashed garlic in a wide, heavy-bottomed pot or deep skillet over medium-low heat. Cook gently for 6 to 8 minutes, turning the cloves occasionally, until they are pale gold and the oil smells sweet and nutty. Do not let the garlic brown past light tan or the sauce will turn bitter. Add the red pepper flakes for the last 20 seconds.
3. Fish out and discard the garlic cloves with a slotted spoon (or save them to smear on bread). Immediately add the crushed tomatoes and all their juices — stand back, it will spatter. Add 1 1/4 teaspoons kosher salt and the basil sprig, stem and all.
4. Bring to a lively simmer over medium heat, then reduce to low so the surface just blips every second or two. Cook uncovered for 25 to 30 minutes, stirring every 5 minutes and scraping the bottom, until the sauce has reduced by roughly a quarter and a spoon dragged through the pot leaves a trail that fills in slowly. The oil will separate out and pool orange at the edges — that is exactly what you want.
5. Remove and discard the basil sprig. Taste: if the tomatoes still read sharp or metallic, stir in the 1/2 teaspoon sugar. For the signature pomodoro texture, blend the sauce until just smooth — 15 to 20 seconds with an immersion blender in the pot, or 10 short pulses in a standing blender (vent the lid; hot liquid expands). Stop before it turns pale and frothy; overblending aerates the sauce and dulls the color.
6. Return the sauce to low heat and whisk in the cold butter one cube at a time, letting each melt before adding the next. The sauce should go glossy and a shade deeper. Keep warm over the lowest heat. You now have about 4 cups; use half for a pound of pasta and refrigerate or freeze the rest.
7. Bring 4 quarts of water to a rolling boil, add 2 tablespoons kosher salt, and cook the pasta 1 minute shy of the package's al dente time. Before draining, scoop out 1 cup of the cloudy cooking water.
8. Add about 2 cups of the sauce to a large skillet over medium heat along with 1/4 cup pasta water. Drain the pasta and add it directly to the skillet. Toss and stir constantly for 60 to 90 seconds, adding pasta water a tablespoon at a time, until the sauce tightens around the noodles and no longer pools on the pan bottom.
9. Kill the heat, add the Parmigiano and the torn basil leaves, and toss hard for another 20 seconds so the cheese melts into the sauce rather than clumping. Serve right away in warm bowls with a final drizzle of olive oil and more cheese at the table.

Chef's tips

Nutrition (per serving, estimated)

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