easy pasta recipe
easy tomato pasta recipe
This is the best beginner friendly recipe that bursts with herby and creamy tomato flavours. It is easy to make and only requires 35 minutes of your time. It is perfect for all your easy weekday meals.
Before you make this easy tomato pasta recipe, I would like to know your thoughts on the on going debate on whether red sauce pasta or white sauce pasta is better. Personally? I prefer a white sauce pasta because it is always so creamy, cheesy and just so yum. However, the red sauce pasta devotees are right when they say that red sauce pasta has more intense flavors. Would you like to challenge the debate? Then try this recipe and see it for yourself.
what to make for dinner today?
The step-by-step guide to making tomato pasta
prepare the meals ingredients
Start off by preparing your ingredients. We do this by finely chopping the onions, removing the tomatoes from the can, and by measuring the different spices needed, this helps in making the cooking process quicken.
make the ziti
Al dente pasta is pasta that is cooked but still has a slight uncooked texture. I would describe the texture as cooked pasta but at the same time pasta that is firm enough to not break when handled or mixed.
how to cook pasta until it is al dente:
- Read the packet instructions. Believe it or not we often rush to make pasta and always overlook actually reading the instructions. The instructions are always a great guideline to making al dente pasta.
- Keep an eye on your pasta when making it. Always check to see if it is the right texture.
- Be patient, you will not always get it right, however, you can always try to make al dente pasta next time.
make the creamy pasta sauce
If you want to make your sauce extra creamy then use cream as a replacement for the milk required in the recipe. Adding two cups of cream can make your easy tomato pasta dish overwhelmingly creamy. I recommend you add one part cream and one part milk. That gives you a nice balance of creamy yet not overpowering pasta.
Mix the sauce with the pasta
best tomato pasta recipe
Ingredients
pasta
- 250 grams uncooked ziti pasta
- 750 grams boiling water this is for the pasta
- 1 tsp table salt
- 1 tsp vegetable oil
tomato pasta sauce
- 2 tbsp vegetable oil
- 1 onion chopped and diced
- 1 bay leaf
- 2 tsp powdered garlic
- ½ tsp chilli flakes
- 2 tsp dried mixed herb
- 1 tsp dried sweet basil
- 1 cube chicken stock
- 1 tsp brown sugar
- 400 grams canned whole tomatoes
- 2 cups full-fat milk
- ¼ tsp salt more if need
Instructions
Pasta
- start off by boiling your water along with the salt and oil on high heat in a large pot.
- once the water starts boiling, add your ziti. Cook for about 15 minutes or until pasta is al dente. This means that your pasta is cooked but still firm enough to hold its shape.
- Once your pasta is al dente, drain all the excess water from it and set it aside.
creamy tomato pasta sauce
- Before we start cooking, grab your food processor and blend your canned whole tomatoes. (no need to drain) Make sure that the tomatoes are smooth.
- In a large non-stick pan, place your vegetable oil on medium heat. Make sure that you do not overheat your pan. This leads to burning.
- Add your chopped onion and bay leaf to your heated oil and cook for 2 minutes. Constantly stir your onions for two minutes, this prevents your onions from unevenly cooking.
- Once your onions start to get a golden brown colour on the ends, add your garlic powder, chilli flakes, dried mixed herb, and dried sweet basil. Mix well for a further 2 minutes.
- Add your crushed tomatoes, sugar, salt and stock cube to your onions and mix well.
- Reduce your heat by one and allow your tomato mixture to simmer and cook for 5 minutes. Continuously stir your mixture for 5 minutes.
- After 5 minutes add your full-fat milk to the tomato sauce, stir and allow your creamy sauce to simmer for a further 10 minutes.
- Lastly, in a large serving dish place your pasta and sauce and mix well. Add more salt if necessary. Enjoy
Notes
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