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A bowl of classic tomato spaghetti with basil
Save recipe

Classic tomato spaghetti

Fresh basil & Parmesan

A bowl of classic tomato spaghetti with basil
Save recipe

30 mins
Super easy

serves 8

About the recipe

A great introduction to pasta for kids – loads of fun to eat, and a brilliant base for adding all kinds of other fresh ingredients.

nutrition per serving

Calories

16%

g

Fat

5%

g

Saturates

5%

g

Sugars

11%

g

Salt

3%

g

Protein

26%

g

Carbs

24%

g

Fibre

-

of an adult’s reference intake

Ingredients

1 bunch of fresh basil

1 medium onion

2 cloves of garlic

1kg ripe tomatoes or 2 x 400g tins of quality chopped tomatoes

olive oil

1 tablespoon red wine or balsamic vinegar

480g dried wholewheat spaghetti

15g Parmesan cheese

Top Tip

Once you’ve made this a few times you can add other simple ingredients, such as baby spinach, chopped rocket leaves, or fresh or frozen peas, to your basic tomato sauce to completely transform it.

Method

  1. Pick the basil leaves onto a chopping board (reserving a few baby leaves to garnish), then roughly chop the remaining leaves and finely chop the stalks.
  2. Peel and finely slice the onion and garlic. If using fresh, cut the tomatoes in half, then roughly chop them or carefully open the tins of tomatoes.
  3. Put a saucepan on a medium heat and add 1 tablespoon of olive oil and the onion, then cook for around 7 minutes, or until soft and lightly golden.
  4. Stir in the garlic and basil stalks for a few minutes, then add the fresh or tinned tomatoes and the vinegar.
  5. Season with a tiny pinch of salt and pepper, then continue cooking for around 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.
  6. Stir in the chopped basil leaves, then reduce to low and leave to tick away. Meanwhile…
  7. Carefully fill a large pot three-quarters of the way up with boiling water, add a tiny pinch of salt and bring back to the boil.
  8. Add the spaghetti and cook according to packet instructions – you want to cook your pasta until it is al dente. This translates as ‘to the tooth’ and means that it should be soft enough to eat, but still have a bit of a bite and firmness to it. Use the timings on the packet instructions as a guide, but try some just before the time is up to make sure it’s perfectly cooked.
  9. Once the pasta is done, ladle out and reserve a cup of the cooking water and keep it to one side, then drain in a colander over the sink and tip the spaghetti back into the pot.
  10. Stir the spaghetti into the sauce, adding a splash of the pasta water to loosen, if needed.
  11. Serve with the reserved basil leaves sprinkled over the top and use a microplane to finely grate the Parmesan cheese, then sprinkle over.
  12. PRINT THIS RECIPE (UK)
  13. PRINT THIS RECIPE (USA)

Tags

It’s important to season the cooking water so that the pasta can absorb it as it cooks. Reserving and adding a splash of pasta cooking water to your sauce helps to loosen it, if it’s a bit thick.

It’s important to season the cooking water so that the pasta can absorb it as it cooks. Reserving and adding a splash of pasta cooking water to your sauce helps to loosen it, if it’s a bit thick.

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