Fresh Tomato Marinara Pasta
A classic, authentic Italian dish made with a fresh tomato marinara sauce with NO added sugar, and fresh homemade pasta.
Servings 2 people
Calories 606kcal
Equipment
- 3 qt stainless steel saute pan
Ingredients
- 8 oz fresh pasta
- 2 lbs roma tomatoes
- 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil the good stuff
- 5-6 cloves garlic minced, about 1 tablespoon
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 4-5 leaves fresh basil
- 1/4 teaspoon onion powder
- Parmesan Cheese
Instructions
- Slice tomatoes in half and use a small spoon to scoop seeds out in a small bowl. Set aside.
- Use a box grater to finely grate the flesh of the tomatoes into a medium-sized bowl. Try to grate as much of the flesh as possible. The skin of the tomatoes should protect your fingers. Discard skins.
- Once all of the tomatoes have been grated, place a fine mesh seive over bowl of grated tomato / liqud and pour the scooped seeds into the sieve. Gently press out the liquid from the seeds into the bowl. This should yeild 2 1/3 to 2 1/2 cups of a sauce.
- Heat large saute pan to medium and add extra virgin olive oil. Add garlic and saute for about 45-60 seconds, stirring in oil to prevent burning.
- Add the grated tomato/sauce to the pan with the garlic and oil and stir. Add salt, onion powder, and whole basil leaves.
- Let the sauce come to a boil, then turn down the heat slightly to medium-low to let the sauce vigorously simmer / very gently boil for 10 minutes, stirring occassionally.
- After 10 minutes, add onion powder and mix well. Then add the fresh pasta and use tongs to turn and coat with sauce. If needed, bring the heat back up slightly so that you have a vigorous simmer/gentle boil as the last of liquid in the sauce starts to cook off / into the pasta.
- Cook pasta and sauce for 4-5 minutes, turning frequently to coat pasta with sauce so that it cooks with the liquid of the sauce and does not stick to the bottom of the pan. If the liquid is mostly cooked off, and pasta begins to stick a little, turn down the heat.
- Test pasta for doneness, and then plate and top with Parmesan cheese and fresh basil.
- Enjoy!
Notes
Substitutions
Boxed Pasta: If you're not using fresh pasta, you will need to boil the pasta first for a few minutes before adding it to the sauce. Start a pot of water when you're about halfway through grating the tomatoes. Boil for the time indicated on the side of the box minus 3 minutes. For example, for thin spaghetti that takes 6 minutes to cook, boil for only 3 minutes, drain, and then add to sauce and finish cooking for another 3-4 minutes.
Tomatoes: Romas or another plum/paste tomato is best like San Marzano, Amish paste, viva Italia, big mama.
Garlic: Use 1 teaspoon powdered for the 1 tablespoon of fresh minced.
Basil: Use 1 teaspoon dried for the fresh.
Additional Herbs: Add additional herbs to taste, like oregano or parsley.
Prepare in Advance
You can grate the tomatoes and store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 2 days before using.
Nutrition
Calories: 606kcal | Carbohydrates: 82g | Protein: 17g | Fat: 25g | Saturated Fat: 3g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 4g | Monounsaturated Fat: 16g | Cholesterol: 83mg | Sodium: 1217mg | Potassium: 1314mg | Fiber: 6g | Sugar: 12g | Vitamin A: 3885IU | Vitamin C: 65mg | Calcium: 80mg | Iron: 5mg