The best pasta ever, a recipe!

Today I am going to share a failproof pasta recipe that I have been perfecting over the last year.  It isn't fast to make (it takes about an hour), but it's easy and delicious, perfect for cooking with a glass of wine in one's hand.  It's very flexible in terms of ingredients, but there are a few secret tricks that I will share that are absolutely crucial (especially right at the end). 

Let's start, shall we?

For this example I used the following ingredients:

• Several fresh tomatoes, chopped into large-ish pieces
• Diced onion (about half of one large onion)
• Minced garlic
• Olive oil
• Diced hot pepper (optional)
• Sausage (optional - but oh so yummy - for best results, remove from any casing)
• You can also add things like diced bell peppers, squash, herbs, chickpeas, etc.  I've experimented with several items and the ones shown above are my faves.  
• The amounts shown here result in enough pasta for two people plus some leftovers; modify as needed.

You will also need at least one type of cheese.  I had a few types lying around so I included:

• Soft spreadable herb cheese (CRUCIAL)
• Buffalo mozzarella
• Parmesan

And of course the pasta.  To make this recipe correctly, you'll need something durable like spaghetti - not a stuffed pasta like ravioli.  I love home-made noodles but the sauce is so awesome you won't notice a difference with storebought, I swear.

Here's a tip: if you're using spaghetti, break the noodles in half before cooking.  I had to do this in Argentina because our pot was so tiny - but it makes them much more pleasant to eat.

I like to get all my ingredients chopped and ready to go before I start cooking.  Maybe so I can pretend I'm the host of a cooking show.  Or maybe because I'm a Virgo.  At any rate, we're ready to start cooking now. So let's do it!

First, put a few tablespoons of olive oil in a pan over a low heat with some minced garlic.  As every occasional chef knows, this is primarily to impress your guests and make the house start to smell good.

When the garlic is starting to brown just a bit, add onions and any other "hard" vegetables such as peppers or chickpeas.  (We'll add "soft" veggies such as tomatoes in a moment.) Again, keep your heat low.  No rush here.  Have more wine.

Once these have started to soften and brown, you can add your sausage (unless you are vegetarian, in which case you have my sympathies).  Cook that until it's nice and brown, and make sure you're kind of chopping the sausage up into small pieces as it cooks (no big lumps).  I took a picture of this but it looked kind of gross so I will spare you and cut to the next step.

Once your sausage has browned, now is the time to add tomatoes and any other soft veggies (e.g. squash) that you might be adding.  Mix this together thoroughly.  You may need to add more olive oil, you really want those tomatoes to simmer away nicely. 

Make sure the heat is low, cover your pan, and set it aside for 20-30 minutes (this is the part that takes the longest).  Have a little more wine while you wait.

Here are the tomatoes, cooking away.  You want this to get nice and juicy.  When the tomatoes have gotten really soft, smash them up with a fork.  Keep mixing up your sauce, but keep the lid on at all other times so that the moisture doesn't escape.  You don't want to end up with a dried-out sauce.

Now you can finally get your water boiling and cook your pasta. 

One thing I like to do right before the pasta is done cooking, is get a cup full of pasta water and save this aside.  (This is a Mario Batali trick.)

If your sauce isn't liquid enough, you can add this at the end (not usually necessary, but good to have just in case).

NOW COMES THE CRUCIAL PART.  THE PART THAT MUST NOT BE SKIPPED.

Once you have cooked and drained your pasta, put it in the pan with the tomato sauce, and put your cheese(s) on top.  The most important cheese to add is a couple tablespoons of a nice, flavorful soft cheese, e.g. Rondele cheese spread.  You can also use gorgonzola crumbles or any soft herbed cheese.  I also threw in some buffalo mozzarella but this won't add much flavor, just a little extra creaminess.

Now get a sturdy spoon and stir the s*** out of it!  The glutens from the pasta, the cheese, and the sauce will combine into a miracle of pure deliciousness, like so:

Please, whatever you do, do NOT serve the pasta and sauce separately. 

Do NOT neglect to add some kind of gooey soft flavorful cheese  (parmesan alone will not do the trick). 

While everything else is pretty negotiable, these two steps are the key to "the best pasta ever." 

Now serve, eat, and enjoy!  And let me know how it went, or if you have any other tips.

Comments

[paolo frullini]

Pasta...? Let me ask you: have you ever been in Florence before? I mean many years ago. Well, my name is Paolo, I am a director and today I was looking for some videos on the web (youtube). I have found this Weezer's video and I was wondering about its strange beginning and how they could film an upside down studio like that. The director was Spike Jonze and the producer was Joy Ray (?). Are you that producer?

[Joy]

wow crazy....florence, yes. weezer, yes.

[paolo]

!Good! I hope you're fine!
The italian radio3 is playing a wonderful song by fred neil: dade county jail... (I see you like johnny cash).

[grossesse]

Pasta..Wow delicious!I love it.Many times i have cooked pasta but 2 days ago i came across your post and i tried this recipe and its awesome.I will keep visiting this site often for more recipes.Keep sharing.Thanks.

[Joy]

That is so great, glad you liked it!!