Ingredients

Spaghetti-250 gms

Ripe red tomato-10 medium

Salt-to taste

Extra virgin olive oil-2tbsp

Garlic-1 pod

Big onion-1 .white or red

Fresh Basil leaves –  15 leaves

Oregano-2 tsp dry or fresh

Parsley-1tsp

Sugar-1/2tsp

Balsamic vinegar or red wine vinegar -1tbsp

Crushed Chilli flakes-2tsp or as per ur taste

Crushed Pepper -1/4tsp (opt)

 

Method

 

In a saucepan add water and allow to boil ..

Place a pot of water on the stove and let it come to a rolling boil.

Place some of ice in a bowl of water and near to u ..

Rinse your tomatoes clean and remove any stems that are still attached.

Using a sharp knife, slice a shallow X into the bottom of the tomato (opposite the stem side).

Gently place the tomatoes into the boiling water.

We can do it in two batches ..5 tomato in each batch

Boil the tomatoes till you see the X begin to split open wider, or for 25 seconds, whichever comes first.

Do not boil them for longer than 25-30 seconds or they will begin to soften and cook.

Remove the tomatoes immediately from the boiling water using a spoon.

And place them to the ice water and allow them to cool..

Remove the tomatoes from the ice water.

Peel the skin at the X, pulling the skin back gently.

Not much tomato flesh should come off with the skin– if the flesh comes off or the tomato seems soft/mushy, you’ve cooked it a bit too long. Try cooking it for a shorter time on the next round.

So peel the entire tomatoes like this …

Now have to take seeds out ..for that we must cut the peeled tomato into 4 sections and with the help of a spoon or fork just remove the seeds ..

Don’t throw away them coz with these seeds juice  is also coming out ..

So collect all seeds and juice in a separate bowl and after finishing whole 10 ,take a strainer and strain the seeds and collect the juice and keep aside ..

Put the tomato into a blender and just whip for 30 seconds and and keep aside ..or chop finely ..

Finely chop onion and garlic too … Usually Italians use white onion but u can use red too..

Fresh basil is a must ingredients in this recipe … Finely chop basil leaves and keep aside ..(reserve some baby basil leaves for garnishing )

Heat olive oil in a nontstick saucepan ..

Add finely chopped garlic and onion ..Saute till the onion become translucent ..

Now add basil leaves  and crushed chilli flakes …

Saute for 1 minute and add salt ..

Now add tomato pulp and reserve juice and mix well..Add sugar and vinegar  also ..

Now close the pan and allow to cook in medium flame for 30 minutes stirring occasionally ..

In between u can add hot water if necessary ..

After 30 minutes  add all the other ingredients (oregano ,parsley ) and mix well and again cook for another 30 minutes ..

The sauce should be thick not that dry  ..Check the taste .. If any seasonings are missing add according to ur taste ..

Add freshly crushed pepper and mix ..

So our sauce is ready ..Now have to prepare spaghetti ..

Fill a large pot three quarters of the way up with water  along with salt and boil ..

Now add spaghetti to the water very gently and cook according to the direction in the packet ..

In the packet they are written as 7 minutes but for me it took 15 minutes to cook ..

The spaghetti must be cooked in the middle otherwise it will be rubbery .. Don’t over cook also ..

It should be soft enough to eat .. So u can check after 7 minutes ..The preference differs ..

So after the spaghetti is done reserve some cooking water and then drain the spaghetti in a strainer ..

Add this cooked spaghetti back to the tomato sauce and mix gently ..If the sauce is too dry u can add this reserve water to loosen..

Transfer to a plate and decorate with basil leaves and if u want u can grate some parmesan cheese on the top and serve hot ..

 

Love

🙂

Veena