San Marzano Spaghetti
This is one of those recipes we keep coming back to because it's proper Italian cooking done right, no shortcuts, no jars. San Marzano tomatoes are genuinely in a league of their own, sweeter and less acidic than regular tinned tomatoes, and when you treat them well they make the most incredible sauce. We love this one for a Friday night when you want something that feels a bit special but you're not ready to spend hours in the kitchen. The sauce is silky, rich and full of that deep tomato flavour that just coats every strand of spaghetti perfectly. Make this tonight and you will not be disappointed.
Before You Start
- Large pot of salted water brought to a rolling boil
- Microplane or fine grater
- Coarse grater
- Large frying pan
- Colander
- Slotted spoon
Ingredients
- 4 tbsp olive oil
- 3 banana shallots
- 1 large garlic clove
- 1 sprig of basil
- 6 san marzano tomatoes
- 2 tbsp sun-dried tomato paste
- 1 tsp dried oregano
- salt, pepper & sugar to taste
- 500g quality spaghetti
- olive oil
- nutritional yeast
- black pepper
Method
Prepare the tomatoes
- Bring a large pot of salted water to a rolling boil over high heat
- Add the San Marzano Tomatoes to the pan and blanch for 45-60 seconds
- Remove the tomatoes with a slotted spoon, place on a plate and leave to cool for a couple of minutes - turn the heat down to a simmer
- Slit the skins of the tomatoes with a sharp knife and peel
- Cut 3 of the tomatoes into 2cm chunks
- Use the coarse side of the grater to grate the remaining 3 onto a plate
- Roughly dice any leftovers that wouldn’t grate (and discard the stem end)
Prepare the base ingredients
- Peel the shallots and cut into really fine dice - the finer the better
- Peel and grate the garlic with a fine grater to make a puree
- Pick the basil leaves and finely dice the stems - the finer the better
Prepare the sauce
- Warm the olive oil in the frying pan over medium heat
- Add the shallots to the pan and fry for 2-3 minutes until aromatic (the shallot needs to be lightly coloured, not brown)
- Add the garlic and basil stems, stir to combine and simmer for 1 minute
- Add the tomatoes to the pan, stir to combine and simmer for 2-3 minutes
- Add the tomato puree and oregano to the pan, stir to combine, reduce the heat and simmer for approximately 20 minutes
Prepare the pasta
- Get the water in the large pasta pot to a rolling boil
- When the sauce has been simmering for 10 minutes, add the pasta to the pan and cook for 2 minutes less than packet instructions (approx 9 minutes)
Finish the dish and serve
- Turn up the heat of the sauce, add half a ladle of pasta water, stir to combine and simmer
- Taste the sauce and season to perfection with salt, pepper and a little sugar
- Drain the pasta into a colander, quickly transfer the pasta into the sauce and fold to combine and coat
- Transfer the pasta to pasta bowls, spoon over any remaining tomato sauce, season with black pepper, nutritional yeast or plant based parmesan a little drizzle of olive oil, dress with the reserved basil leaves and serve immediately
Tips & Variations
- Use the real thing: Trust us on this one, proper San Marzano tomatoes from the Agro Sarnese-Nocerino region make a real difference here. Look for the DOP label on the tin or the fresh ones if you can find them. It's worth it.
- Salt your pasta water generously: It should taste like the sea, seriously. This is one of the biggest flavour upgrades you can make and it costs nothing. Properly seasoned pasta water makes the whole dish taste better.
- Save that pasta water: Before you drain the spaghetti, scoop out a big mug of the starchy cooking water. Adding a splash to the sauce at the end helps everything emulsify into something glossy and restaurant-quality rather than watery.
Why This Works
The trick here is blanching and peeling the tomatoes yourself rather than just opening a tin. It sounds like extra effort but it takes five minutes and the texture of the finished sauce is completely different, smoother, fresher and way more vibrant. Grating some of the tomatoes directly into the pan is something we picked up years ago and it just works, it breaks them down into this gorgeous pulpy base that clings to the pasta beautifully.