Spicy Pasta

Vanessa normally gets to sit around in our room while I am at school all day, which I'm betting is a real treat. Well, she decided to get to work in the "kitchen" (see last post for the explanation of the quotes). There are many tomato-based pasta sauces, but if you break it down, there's a few ingredients which are constant. This pasta was wonderful and goes to show that no matter how crappy your cooking facilities are, YOU DON'T HAVE TO BREAK DOWN AND BUY RAGU OR SOME OTHER CRAP. You can make a superior sauce on your own, with minimal effort, and it will be 1 zillion times better than some storebought garbage which was put in the jar back during the Clinton administration.

The sauce was lovely and spicy, and got a nice hint of sweetness from using the San Marzano tomatoes, which are great and grow near Naples.

olive oil
3 cloves garlic, chopped
1 onion, finely chopped
2 teaspoons fennel seeds
2 teaspoons dried rosemary
2 teaspoons red pepper flakes
1 large can (28 oz.) chopped San Marzano tomatoes (Cento is a good brand)
500g pasta
salt and pepper, to taste

Heat the oil over medium heat. When hot, add the garlic and onions and saute until soft and translucent, 5-7 minutes. Add the spices and stir through to combine. Add the tomatoes and bring to a boil over high heat. When it boils, turn the heat down to low and simmer, mostly covered with a lid, for 2 hours, stirring occasionally.

When the sauce is almost done, cook up a package (500g) of the pasta of your choice in boiling salted water according to package directions. Take a 1/4 cup of the pasta cooking water and add it to the sauce. Drain the rest of the pasta in a colander.

Put the pasta in the pot with the sauce. Season to taste with salt, pepper and spices. Serve with some grated Parmesan, or in our case, with some Parmesan that you cut very finely with a paring knife at an extreme angle to LOOK (sort of) like grated Parmesan.

No matter how you slice it, this was delicious.