Gone are the days when we ate pasta and meatballs for dinner. European cuisine is increasingly capturing our country. Today it is fashionable to eat spaghetti bolognese or something else with an incomprehensible and strange name. What is spaghetti and what do they eat with?
Spaghetti is a long and thin pasta native to Italy. They are widely used in Italian cuisine, are the basis of a huge number of dishes. Most often in Italy served spaghetti with tomatoes and garlic. But there are many other species. For example, spaghetti with tomato sauce, spaghetti with tomatoes, cheese and garlic, spaghetti with garlic and butter are popular. Spaghetti Bolognese are also known in Russia. But still, one of the most classic recipes is spaghetti with tomatoes and garlic.
Spaghetti appeared in Italy in the XIII century, but found its name only in 1842 due to the fact that it looked like thin twine (Italian spago). Today there are about 176 types of pasta. Initially, "spaghetti" was called pasta 50 cm long, but due to the fact that it was inconvenient to store, the length was halved to 25 cm. It is also interesting that pasta is cooked differently in every region of Italy.
It is easy to guess that there are a huge number of spaghetti recipes with tomatoes and garlic. After all, only in Italy there are 20 regions, each of which uses its own tricks and secrets in the preparation of spaghetti. We will focus on one of the simplest options. Cooking will take you about forty minutes. So, how to cook spaghetti with tomatoes and garlic?
Ingredients
To prepare dinner for 6 people, you will need:
- 4 ripe tomatoes;
- 2 tablespoons of olive oil;
- 1/4 teaspoon chopped red chili;
- salt and ground black pepper to taste;
- 2 tablespoons of sunflower oil;
- 1/2 cup grated cheese;
- 8 fresh basil leaves;
- spaghetti.
For basil and garlic oil:
- olive oil - 1/4 cup;
- 8 whole cloves of garlic;
- 10 fresh basil leaves;
- 1/4 teaspoon chopped red chili.
Tomato sauce
The first stage is the preparation of tomato sauce. Peel the tomatoes with a sharp knife. After that, cut the tomatoes in half and extract the seeds. In a wide pan, heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Add the tomatoes, chopped red pepper, season lightly with salt and pepper. After a few minutes, the tomatoes will become softer. Then they need to be removed from the pan, finely chopped. After that, cook the tomatoes for 20 minutes until they become soft and the sauce becomes homogeneous. If the sauce is too tart (your tomatoes may have been unsweetened or not fully ripened), add 1/2 teaspoon of sugar. If you want to use tomato and garlic sauce for spaghetti, you can add garlic along with pepper.
Basil and garlic oil
While the tomatoes are cooked, make basil and garlic oil. In a small saucepan over low heat, heat 1/4 cup of olive oil. Add sliced garlic, basil leaves and chopped chili. The pan should be on low heat so that the ingredients slowly heat up. When the garlic begins to brown slightly, turn off the heat and let cool for 10 minutes. Strain the oil, discard all solid particles so that the mass is homogeneous.
Spaghetti
For high-quality cooking, you will need a pan with a minimum volume of three liters. Fill it with 2/3 water. Once the water boils, salt it and put the spaghetti in the pan without breaking. If the spaghetti sticks out, it's not scary - wait a minute: they will soften and completely go into the water. They need to be carefully laid with a wooden spatula (so as not to cut the pasta with sharp metal). The first two minutes, be sure to stir the spaghetti so that they do not stick together. When the water boils a second time, reduce the heat to medium. Continue stirring the spaghetti periodically. Never cover them with a lid!
See how much spaghetti should be cooked according to the recommendation on the package. If you reduce this time by a minute, you will get spaghetti al dente. Such spaghetti should emit light clicks or crackle when consumed. Throw the spaghetti into a colander (until it’s better not to pour water from them). If you are used to washing pasta, and then greasing them with oil, then do not rush to do it with spaghetti, experts do not recommend it. According to the recipe, we send spaghetti to tomatoes.
Combination of sauce and spaghetti
Add spaghetti to cooked tomato sauce. Cook over medium heat, stirring steadily (you can even shake the pan several times) until the pasta is soft and the sauce is homogeneous. If the sauce seems too thick, add some water that remains after cooking the spaghetti. Remove the pan from the stove, throw butter, basil and grated cheese into it (pasta should turn orange).
Time to serve
Put cooked dish on plates. We recommend putting them in a slightly heated deep plate. For convenience, use special spaghetti tongs to lay them out neatly and beautifully. Pour a little basil and garlic oil into each serving. If desired, you can decorate with greens or sprigs of basil and once again sprinkle with cheese. It is important to remember that spaghetti change their taste when reheated, so eating them is best right away.
How to serve spaghetti?
If you are thinking of serving spaghetti, we hasten to reassure you: spaghetti is an absolutely self-sufficient dish that is not considered a side dish. Experts say that pasta with meat leads to a violation of carbohydrate metabolism. Italians themselves are sure that it is impossible to get fat from pasta if you do not mix them with animal proteins (meat, fish). It is recommended to use spaghetti with vegetable (tomato) and mushroom sauces.
It is interesting
In Russia, spaghetti began to be actively introduced in the late 80s - early 90s. At the same time, pizzerias came into use.
The usual forks with several teeth were invented especially for eating spaghetti.
All pasta in Italy is called the word "pasta", which means "pasta dough".
Macaroni has its own holiday - October 25 is World Pasta Day.