Spaghetti with buffalo mozzarella in a cherry tomato sauce
I created this recipe as I needed to use up some ingredients and I think it tasted pretty good!
Fresh and high quality ingredients will take this recipe to a new level, so I’d advise buying the best sweet cherry tomatoes, buffalo mozzarella, high quality pasta, and quality extra virgin olive oil (EVOO) that you can find. Moreover, the sweeter the cherry tomato the less you will be likely to require sugar to sweeten the sauce.
This is also my super-simple tomato sauce recipe, it’s incredibly easy and flavorsome, so I hope you like it.
Ingredients
Server 3-4
- EVOO
- Spaghetti (400g)
- Two cloves of garlic (finely chopped)
- Two large handfuls of quality cherry tomatoes (pierced slightly with a knife to stop them exploding with a knife when pressed down whilst cooking)
- One ball of buffalo mozzarella
- A large tablespoon of tomato puree
- A handful of fresh basil (finely chopped or coarsely broken into the pan – as you wish)
- Salt and pepper to season
Method
- Firstly, place the spaghetti (100g per person) into boiling salted water (remember to cook until al dente – cooked but still slightly firm)
- Next, add two tablespoons of EVOO to a pan on a medium heat.
- Add the finely chopped garlic and cook for 30 seconds, making sure the garlic doesn’t brown.
- Then, add the tomatoes to the pan along with one tablespoon of the cooking pasta water (using the pasta water helps create the sauce, as it helps to cook the tomatoes and it’s starchy-ness helps the pasta stick to the sauce – therefore adding this water is essential to a good sauce)
- The tomatoes should begin to soften, and their juices should start to fill the pan. Press them down slightly to accelerate this process, paying attention to any that may burst and spit out fluid (this is where your prep of piercing the tomatoes will be helpful).
- Again add a couple more tablespoons of water, add the tomato puree, mix, and turn the hob onto a simmer to gently cook the sauce. Season.
- Add the chopped basil and taste. Season again if necessary and add a tablespoon of sugar if the sauce isn’t sweet enough to your taste.
- After around 3-5 mins the sauce should be formed
- Drain the pasta (saving some pasta water), and add to the sauce.
- If the sauce is too thick, add a little of the water to get it to the consistency that you want. Traditionally, sauces with spaghetti are usually quite thin, so bear this in mind.
- Add the pasta to a plate, and then crumble the buffalo mozzarella over the pasta.
- Drizzle with a little EVOO and you’re ready to eat!
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