This is my second attempt at a recipe I caught on my favorite food related tv show, No Reservations. The show usually takes Tony Bourdain to far off lands and showcases the foods and culture of the area. This episode took a break and focused on basic cooking techniques; things every cook should know how to do. The one that really caught my eye was chef Scott Conant of Scarpetta and his take on spaghetti.
Recipe
Growing up, spaghetti was a staple at home, mostly for its simplicity. You boiled some noodles, heated some pre-canned sauce and added a meat if you were so inclined. It was never something I craved...until I caught Conant's version. Fresh tomatoes, fresh basil, olive oil, garlic and spaghetti.
Adrienne and I have been hitting up the local farmer's market the past few weekends and this Saturday I loaded up on locally grown tomatoes, a bunch of basil and decided to give this another go. Prep time is the toughest part. The tomatoes I got were heavy on the seeds and needed the skin removed. The easiest way to pull this off is to score an X on the bottom of the tomato and toss it in boiling water for 20-30 seconds.
Take them out, let them cool and the skin should peel right off.
Cut the tomatoes, get out as many seeds as you can and place them in a saucepan with some heated olive oil. Allow them to heat up for 10 minutes or so then use a potato masher to break them up.
Let the sauce simmer for 20-25 minutes, stirring occasionally. While that's going, get a small saucepan and put ~1/3 cup of olive oil on some heat. Once it begins to heat up, add a couple cloves of garlic and some freshly cut basil. This is where the magic happens.
Get your pasta going and once its close to al dente, move it into the tomato sauce and add your garlic/basil infused olive oil (everything is better with something that's infused). Make sure to strain out the garlic and basil. Toss the noodles (this is where you can work on that nifty wrist flip thing the pros do) and make sure the sauce really coats everything. Add tablespoon of butter, some more chopped basil, plate and serve.
Recipe
Growing up, spaghetti was a staple at home, mostly for its simplicity. You boiled some noodles, heated some pre-canned sauce and added a meat if you were so inclined. It was never something I craved...until I caught Conant's version. Fresh tomatoes, fresh basil, olive oil, garlic and spaghetti.
Adrienne and I have been hitting up the local farmer's market the past few weekends and this Saturday I loaded up on locally grown tomatoes, a bunch of basil and decided to give this another go. Prep time is the toughest part. The tomatoes I got were heavy on the seeds and needed the skin removed. The easiest way to pull this off is to score an X on the bottom of the tomato and toss it in boiling water for 20-30 seconds.
Take them out, let them cool and the skin should peel right off.
Cut the tomatoes, get out as many seeds as you can and place them in a saucepan with some heated olive oil. Allow them to heat up for 10 minutes or so then use a potato masher to break them up.
Let the sauce simmer for 20-25 minutes, stirring occasionally. While that's going, get a small saucepan and put ~1/3 cup of olive oil on some heat. Once it begins to heat up, add a couple cloves of garlic and some freshly cut basil. This is where the magic happens.
Get your pasta going and once its close to al dente, move it into the tomato sauce and add your garlic/basil infused olive oil (everything is better with something that's infused). Make sure to strain out the garlic and basil. Toss the noodles (this is where you can work on that nifty wrist flip thing the pros do) and make sure the sauce really coats everything. Add tablespoon of butter, some more chopped basil, plate and serve.
I can attest that this was the most delicious spaghetti I've ever had. So delicious, that I'm thinking about eating the leftovers at 10am.
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