Please. Don’t let those packaged pasta sauce bottles burn a hole in your pocket and inject a million preservatives into your system. Making homemade tomato sauce for pasta is the easiest thing in the world. At least, if you go by this recipe I’m going to share with you.

I often make this on weekends while watching a film on TV, getting up only during the 5-minute ad breaks and have delicious pasta with thick homemade tomato sauce ready without missing any of the film.

Here’s my recipe for spaghetti with homemade tomato sauce.

You Need:

• Tomatoes – 5
• Onions – 1
• Garlic – 6 cloves
• Fresh basil leaves – 6 (optional)
• Salt – 1/2 teaspoon (adjust to taste)
• Pepper – a pinch
• Chili flakes – a pinch
• Dried oregano and basil* – 1 teaspoon
• Olive oil – 1 tablespoon
• Extra-virgin olive oil – 2 teaspoons [buy here
• Olives – to garnish
• Spaghetti -300 grams [buy here]

The links above are amazon.com affiliate links. The Steaming Pot will earn a small commission if you buy via the links, at no additional cost to you.

[Serves 3-4]

The main ingredients:

In the picture above: Spaghetti, garlic, basil leaves, onion and tomatoes.

How to Make Pasta Sauce with Tomatoes:

Chop onion and garlic finely. Puree the tomatoes.

Heat 2 teaspoons of olive oil in a non-stick pan. Add chopped garlic and after half a minute, chopped onions.

Fry on medium-high heat for 4 minutes. The onions will begin to turn golden at this stage.

Pour in the entire fresh tomato puree, add half a teaspoon of salt. Let it come to a boil on high heat, stirring regularly.

Set the heat to low, gently scrape off the tomato puree sticking to the edges of the pan (to avoid burning) and put it back into the pan.

Cover the lid. Now for the next 30 minutes, you need to do nothing but take a peek at how the sauce is getting along at intervals, and give it a stir each time. The sauce will gradually thicken and take on a rich red color.

When the sauce is almost ready, mix in torn fresh basil leaves, dried herbs (oregano and basil), pepper and chili flakes. Adjust salt if needed.

The pictures below show you how the sauce looks after 5 minutes, 15 minutes, 25 minutes and 30 minutes.

When the tomato sauce has been simmering for about 20 minutes, you can put the spaghetti to boil in another pan. Follow the packet instructions to cook till al dente. Mix 2 teaspoons of extra-virgin olive oil into boiled spaghetti and keep aside till the sauce is ready.

To serve, use a large fork to place spaghetti into bowls. Pour freshly made tomato sauce over spaghetti. Serve with olives.

Notes:

Interested in more DIY recipes? Try making these at home:

The post How to Make Pasta Sauce with Tomatoes appeared first on The Steaming Pot.

And so, here I am, delivering on that promise.

Three recipe ideas using pesto as key ingredient: mushroom and cherry tomato sauté with pesto, spaghetti with pesto, pesto on toast.

1. Mushroom and Cherry Tomato Saute with Pesto

You Need:

• Mushrooms – 300 grams
• Cherry tomatoes – 1 cup
• Coriander parsley pesto – 1 tablespoon
• Olive oil – 1 teaspoon
• Salt and pepper – to taste

How To Make Mushroom and Cherry Tomato Sauté with Pesto:

Wash and slice mushrooms. Use cherry tomatoes whole.

Coat the bottom of a wide non-stick pan with a teaspoon of olive oil. Put on a high flame, sauté cherry tomatoes and mushrooms with a pinch of salt and pepper till the mushrooms give off all water. (around 5 minutes).

Mix a tablespoon of coriander parsley pesto. Serve warm.

2. Spaghetti with Pesto

You Need:

• Spaghetti – cooked as per packet instructions
• Coriander parsley pesto – 1 tablespoon per serving

How To Make Spaghetti with Pesto:

Mix a tablespoon of coriander parsley pesto per serving to just-cooked spaghetti.

Dig in.

3. Pesto On Toast

You Need:

• Bread slices
• Butter – 1/2 teaspoon per slice
• Coriander parsley pesto – 1 teaspoon per slice

How To Make Pesto On Toast:

Toast bread slices. Butter them, then spread coriander parsley pesto over each slice. Serve immediately.

The post 3 Recipe Ideas Using Pesto appeared first on The Steaming Pot.

You Need:

• Pasta – 2 cups
• Onion – 1, finely chopped
• Garlic – 5 cloves
• Spinach leaves – 2 bunches, cleaned and stems removed
• Cream – 1 tablespoon
• Milk – 1 tablespoon
• Cream cheese – 1 tablespoon
• Salt – to taste
• Oil – 2 teaspoons 

How To Make Spinach Cheese Pasta:

Boil the pasta: Add the pasta to a saucepan of boiling water to which salt and a few drops of oil have been added.  Depending on the thickness of pasta the time to cook could be approximately 8-12 minutes. Pierce with a fork and check. If using fusilli, check the center of the pasta as that takes longer to cook.

When the pasta is done, drain and let cold water run over it (so that it doesn’t cook any further). Keep ready for further use.

Blanch the spinach: Plunge the spinach leaves into boiling water. After two minutes, take the spinach out and transfer to chilled water. You’ll see the green of the spinach turn a beautiful rich shade.

Blend the spinach to puree.

Tip: Don’t discard the water in which the spinach was boiled – use it in soup or to knead atta for rotis.

Make the sauce: Heat oil in a non-stick pan. Add the finely garlic. Stir and add chopped onions. Fry till the onions begin to brown.

Pour in the spinach paste, add a dash of salt.

Cook for 5 minutes. Add the milk, cream and cream cheese. Mix well. 

Put it all together: Finally toss in the boiled pasta. Cook for a minute or two – till the texture becomes thick and all the pasta is coated evenly with the sauce.

Serve spinach cheese pasta hot.

Tips:

This recipe works with different types of pasta. Here’s spinach cheese pasta using fusilli:

…and here’s a bowlful of penne:

• You can cut down on the fat if you so wish – reduce the quantity of cream and cheese.
• Be careful with adding salt, you need less than usual in this dish. Spinach has its own salt, as does most cream cheese – and remember that the pasta has been boiled in salted water already.

Notes:

Looking for more pasta recipes? Try tomato olive capsium pasta, pasta with coriander parsley pesto.

The post Spinach Cheese Pasta appeared first on The Steaming Pot.

While one may question the veracity of such a test with reference to people, it does throw up interesting results when applied to fruits and vegetables.

I’m referring to roasting.

Placing raw whole vegetables on an open flame and slow-cooking them brings out latent attributes that you wouldn’t even know existed. Roasted capsicum becomes juicy and sweet, shedding much of its pepperiness; tomatoes take on a delicious smoky note.

This tomato olive capsicum pasta – with its key ingredients roasted – has a lot of character. It has been through trial by fire, after all.

Here’s for you one of my best-loved meals.

You Need:

[for 1-2 servings]

• Pasta – 1 cup (fusili) [buy here]
• Capsicum (green bell pepper) – 1
• Tomatoes – 2
• Garlic – 1/2 teaspoon, finely chopped
• Salt – to taste
• Oregano – 1 teaspoon [buy here]
• Chili flakes – to taste [buy here]
• Olives – 1 tablespoon [buy here]
• Oil – 2 teaspoons (for cooking)
• Extra-virgin olive oil – a light drizzle as topping [buy here]

The links above are amazon.com affiliate links. The Steaming Pot will earn a small commission if you buy via the links, at no additional cost to you.

Clockwise from the top: capsicum, garlic, red chili flakes, dried oregano, olive slices, pasta, tomatoes.

How To Make Tomato Olive Capsicum Pasta:

1. Boil the pasta

In a large thick-bottom pot, boil 6 cups of water with a teaspoon of salt. Lower heat, tip the pasta in, stir and simmer till the pasta is cooked. The cooking time can vary depending on the thickness of pasta – pierce a piece of pasta with a fork and check for "doneness". If the fork goes in smoothly, the pasta is done.

I used Del Monte fusili, which takes about 8 minutes to cook.

[More tips and methods for cooking pasta, over at LifeHacker.]

When the pasta is read, run cold water over it (so that it doesn’t cook any further) and drain and keep ready for further use.

Tip: Reserve some of the cooking liquid to add to the pasta sauce later. The starch released from the pasta adds richness and flavor to the sauce.

B. Roast the capsicum

Place the whole capsicum directly on the fire, as you do with eggplant for making baingan bharta.

Turn around till all sides are charred. Cool, remove the thin skin.

Slit it, deseed and chop into thin pieces.

C. Roast the tomatoes

Coat the base of a small non-stick pan with a teaspoon of oil. Place the whole tomatoes on the pan and cook covered.

Keep the heat low and turn the tomatoes around a few times, till the tomatoes are roasted all around.

Take the pan off the heat and keep covered while it cools. This will help the heat to percolate till the core of the tomatoes gradually.

When cool, cut the tomatoes in quarters, taking care not to lose the juices. Scoop all of the juices and the tomato quarters into a blender.

Puree the roasted tomato quarters.

D. Make the sauce

Heat oil in a non-stick pan, add the chopped garlic. When the garlic begins to turn brown add the roasted tomato puree and salt. Stir occasionally. Add half a cup of the reserved water the pasta was boiled in, more if you want a thinner sauce.

After 5 minutes of cooking, add red chili flakes and dried oregano.

E. Put it all together

Into the sauce, add the roasted capsicum slices, olives, boiled pasta and toss. Cook for another 3-4 minutes.

Tomato olive capsicum pasta is ready to serve.

Garnish with an extra sprinkling of oregano and a drizzle of extra-virgin olive oil.

Tips:

You can easily work on the steps above in parallel: have the sauce cooking or the capsicum roasting while the pasta boils. As with chapati-making, don’t let the four parts make you think it’s complicated – it isn’t!

Want more pasta recipes? See spinach cheese pasta, and this technique to make a rich homemade pasta sauce.

The post Tomato Olive Capsicum Pasta appeared first on The Steaming Pot.