Spaghetti with Fresh Tomato Sauce

Now, this is about as straight-forward as it gets. This, however, does not mean that this dish is unappealing to the palate. To the contrary, many an adult who has found themselves at our house has been introduced to this dish – and without fail, the reception of these simple Spaghetti has been very positive.

The secret lies in the use of absolutely fresh, high quality ingredients.

The following ingredients are for ONE child (please feel free to double, triple, or quadruple the ingredients as your audience increases). The beauty of this recipe is that it is very acceptable of variations – none of the measured ingredients need to be accurate – you can use more or less (within reason), just the way you feel, and the outcome tends to always be wonderful. In other words, this is a great recipe for those who feel a bit intimidated by the prospect of cooking a meal.

A note on the Spaghetti: I use Mueller's “Hidden Veggie” - not because I endorse their claim to satisfy the need for vegetables in our diets, but because I figured it can't hurt. If the product does, indeed, add a bit of vegetable to my daughter's diet, then I am all for it.

Ingredients:

Spaghetti

Salt

Pepper

Sugar

Extra Virgin Olive Oil

2 gloves of garlic

2 fresh Roma tomatoes or one larger tomato of your preferred variety

4 or five fresh Basil leafs.

Tomato Sauce:

Bring water to a boil in a medium size pot, add a teaspoon of salt, and boil the Spaghetti according to package instructions (or to your liking).

Meanwhile, peel the garlic and chop it into small bits.

Core the tomatoes, remove seeds, and chop coarsely.

Chop the basil.

Add two Tbs of Extra Virgin Olive Oil to a small sauce pan or medium frying pan. Heat over medium heat.

Add the chopped garlic and fry for a minute or until fragrant.

Add the chopped tomatoes. Be careful of splatter resulting from the high moisture content in tomatoes.

Reduce heat to a simmer.

Let simmer for about ten minutes, stirring occasionally. If pan gets too dry, add a few Tbs of water from the boiling pasta pot.

Add salt and pepper to your liking.

Unless the tomatoes are at their peak, you can also add a pinch of sugar.

Stir and let simmer for a minute more.

Add the chopped basil.

Drain the Spaghetti.

Remove tomato sauce from pan and pour into a mini blender or mini chopper – like a Ninja or Magic Bullet. (Since the quantity for one child is so little, I find that a regular blender can be difficult to use).

Stir sauce into the Spaghetti and serve.

I offer fresh Parmgiano-Reggiano with this dish – which my daughter just loves.