Pasta With Fresh Tomato Sauce

By Mark Bittman

Total Time
20 minutes
Rating
4(120)
Comments
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I have been cooking a version of this dish practically since I first encountered

it in a “60-Minute Gourmet” column, the brainchild of the late Pierre Franey, in

January 1986. Why Pierre published the recipe in mid-winter is a mystery. To make the sauce my way you chop tomatoes; you put them in fat, whether that’s olive oil, butter or, I suppose, rendered bacon fat; you cook them until they’ve broken down a bit and given up their liquid; and you dress pasta with the resulting sauce. (Pierre peeled the tomatoes first, because that was his style. He was a chef!) With good tomatoes, you can make this sauce in its most basic form — with no more than tomato, oil and salt — and it will be terrific. But you can jazz it up in a variety of ways; butter in place of oil changes its character noticeably. Parmesan is an obvious and welcome addition. Cooking a bit of chopped onion or minced garlic in the butter or oil — with or without rosemary, tarragon or thyme — before adding the tomatoes adds depth. Chopped basil at the end ... well, to me this is practically essential.

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Ingredients

Yield:4 to 6 servings
  • Salt
  • 3 to 5tablespoons butter or olive oil
  • 1½pounds tomatoes, roughly chopped
  • 1pound linguine or other long pasta
  • ½cup shredded fresh basil leaves, if desired
  • Freshly grated Parmesan, if desired
Ingredient Substitution Guide
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Preparation

  1. Step 1

    Bring a large pot of water to a boil and salt it. Put the butter or oil in a large skillet over medium heat; when the oil is hot or the butter’s foam subsides, add the tomatoes.

  2. Step 2

    Cook, stirring occasionally, until the tomatoes break up, about 10 minutes, adding salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste. Meanwhile, cook the pasta until done; drain.

  3. Step 3

    Toss together pasta and sauce, along with basil and Parmesan, if you like. Taste and adjust the seasoning and serve.

Ratings

4 out of 5
120 user ratings
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Comments

Carol Arnold

Since I have a bumper crop of Roma tomatoes this year I have made this several times. I've used a little sweet butter and a little olive oil and sautéed a chopped medium onion and a couple of cloves of chopped garlic before adding the tomatoes. Added a little salt and pepper, simply delicious and could not be easier. I did not peel the tomatoes.

Annie

Love this. I do saute just a small amount of garlic in a combo of EVOO and sweet butter, just until fragrant, before adding the tomatoes. It's quick and delicious and best with fresh garden tomatoes but in a pinch a can of good San Marzano will do.

Alexa H

Made this using large heirloom tomatoes. Cooked for 10 minutes and it reduced nicely. Tasted incredible. Did not de-seed the tomatoes, no grating, just chopped them up into 1/2" pieces. No pepper, just salt. Reduced red wine in pan first because had no tomato paste, and at the end added a little flour to finish thickening the sauce. Added a great deal of chopped basil. Extremely simple, not too much time, and absolutely delicious. Combined it with ricotta meatballs. Will make again!

Not Great

I made this with beautiful yellow heirloom tomatoes, butter, and tons of basil... and it wasn't great. Overly sweet and it didn't taste fresh enough for the simplicity of what it was. I woke it up with some balsamic vinegar and red wine vinegar. Won't make again.

Becky

Outstanding! To speed things up I used a blender to puree de-seeded tomatoes (unpeeled). Served with whole wheat spaghetti tossed in some basil oil I had left over from Melissa Clark’s “Chicken Milanese” recipe.

Beth G.

I discovered this recipe last summer and have made it several times - it is my all-time favorite pasta recipe! It tastes identical to the pasta pomodoro from my favorite NYC restaurant, Il Riccio. Could not be easier. I use olive oil and 1 Tbs of butter, and salt after reducing. I start it when I put the water on for pasta, and by the time I drain the pasta the sauce is done.

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