Spaghetti al Pomodoro is a slightly sweet tasting tomato sauce served over al dente pasta. The dish features garden-fresh carrot, celery, and onion combined with Italian Roma tomatoes and topped with freshly grated parmigiano-reggiano cheese. This tasty meal will take you straight from Breakfast at Tiffany's to dinner in Naples!
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History of Audrey Hepburn's Spaghetti al Pomodoro
Audrey Hepburn went on record many times saying that she loved Italian cuisine, and that her favorite dinner was a simple pasta dish. Her son, Luca Dotti, in his book Audrey at Home: Memories of My Mother's Kitchen, said this was one of his mother's all-time favorite recipes. She was a wonderful home cook and made this dish at least once a week, and when traveling often requested it at restaurants even when it was not on the menu. Later in life, when she would come back from a long trip, he would have a homecoming plate of spaghetti al Pomodoro waiting for her when she walked through the door.
Audrey was an elegant spirit who also loved to entertain, and frequently made this crowd-pleasing dish for her friends. It's easy to increase the recipe, and served with a salad and garlic bread, makes an elegant meal.
Notes About This Recipe
I wanted to make this as close to Audrey's authentic recipe as possible. I used virtually the same high quality ingredients, but changed the methodology a little bit to make it easier for the modern cook. Here are the specific differences between my recipe and hers:
- Audrey used roughly 3 lbs. of fresh Roma tomatoes from her village in Italy. I'm in California, so to get as close to that as possible I used two 28 oz. cans (roughly 3.5 lbs.) of organic Roma tomatoes imported from Italy.
- Audrey put a whole peeled onion, whole peeled carrot and whole celery stalk in the tomato sauce, cooked it, then pureed the sauce and whole vegetables using a hand operated food mill. (Very few people have the hand-operated type anymore.) I started by dicing the onion, carrot and celery, then cooked them in the sauce, then added the mixture to an electric blender and pureed it (an immersion blender would also work.)
Everything else I did was identical to Audrey's recipe and these minor differences will not affect the taste. The flavor of your sauce will be right on par with the sauce that Audrey made!
Why You'll Love This Recipe
There are four reasons you're going to love this recipe:
- It's got simple ingredients, most of which you probably already have on hand.
- It's fast to make -- You can have it on the table in about an hour start to finish!
- It's easy -- the sauce is cooked in one pan, and the spaghetti is boiled in another.
- It can easily be doubled, tripled, etc. to make it for a crowd.
Tools You'll Need
- A deep skillet for making the sauce
- A large pot for boiling the spaghetti
- A knife or chopping tool for dicing the vegetables
- An electric blender or immersion blender for pureeing the vegetables in the sauce
Ingredients
Following are the very simple ingredients you need to whip up Audrey Hepburn's favorite dinner:
- Canned Roma tomatoes - Forms the base of the sauce. I buy the large cans that are imported from Italy for their sweeter taste.
- Onion - Choose a yellow onion because it keeps its structure and has a strong flavor that sweetens during cooking. A small onion is all you'll need.
- Celery - Adds a subtle, bitter flavor that offsets the sweetness in the sauce.
- Carrot - Adds a fresh, sweet flavor and a bit of alkaline to offset the acidity of the tomatoes.
- Basil - Fresh whole basil leaves, chopped - basil is an herb that pairs well with tomatoes. It's usually sold in a large bunch in the fresh produce department of your grocery store. You can also use a pair of scissors to cut some stems from the remaining basil and place them on top of each serving of pasta for a bit of flair.
- Extra virgin olive oil - Adds flavor and a small amount of fat to create a smooth consistency. Using a good olive oil is essential to Italian cooking -- extra virgin olive oil is low in acidity and has a smooth taste compared to its counterparts. Using another type of olive oil can cause the sauce to be bitter and acidic.
- Sugar - If the sauce is too tart, sugar will add a bit of sweetness.
- Salt - Adds flavor.
- Pepper - Adds a bit of spice.
- Spaghetti - A traditional, thin Italian noodle that's perfect for this dish.
- Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese - Made in a specific region of Italy, it adds a salty, savory flavor while thickening the sauce. It is different from regular parmesan cheese, so this high quality product is recommended for an authentic flavor.
When Audrey was at her home in Italy, she used fresh, organic, locally grown Roma tomatoes in the sauce. Roma tomatoes are also known as plum tomatoes, paste tomatoes, or Italian tomatoes. Those grown in the US have a tougher skin (developed for machine harvesting) and are less sweet than their Italian counterparts. I'm not in Italy and didn't have access to vine-ripened tomatoes, so I did the next best thing and bought skinless organic Roma tomatoes imported from Italy from our local Italian market.
You may be surprised to find that there is no garlic in this recipe. Contrary to popular belief, many Italian dishes had very little to no garlic at all. Heavy garlic in pasta recipes is very much an American tradition. Even Frank Sinatra's Spaghetti and Meatballs recipe only calls for only one clove of garlic, and his Fettuccine Alfredo recipe doesn't have any. However, feel free to put your own spin on it and add one or two cloves garlic if you so desire.
How to Make Spaghetti al Pomodoro
- Start by adding the tomatoes and diced vegetables to a large skillet. There is no need to chop the tomatoes -- they will break down as the sauce begins to cook, and you'll be pureeing the sauce in a blender before it is served. Cook over high heat until vegetables soften.
- Add a bit of olive oil and some chopped basil leaves to the pan. Lower heat and cook until the water bubbles disappear (You can see them in photo 2, below) and turn into sauce bubbles (the thick kind of bubbles that "pop" and splash tomato sauce on you and your stovetop.) Sauce will thicken during this process.
- Turn off the heat and let the sauce rest and cool for about 15 minutes. Transfer to a blender and puree until smooth.
- Return sauce to pan and season to your liking with olive oil, salt, freshly ground pepper and a pinch of sugar (I felt it was sweet enough without sugar, but that will depend on the tomatoes you use, so be sure to taste test it.) Keep warm.
- Put 4 quarts of water in a 6 quart pot, salt it, and bring it to a rolling boil before adding the pasta. Cook spaghetti pasta to al dente, which means it still has a little bit of snap when you bite into it.
- Drain spaghetti, then mix with sauce. Serve topped with grated parmigiano-reggiano cheese and a basil leaf.
Some Other Recipes You Might Enjoy
Expert Tips
- Use a kitchen dicer to quickly and easily prepare your vegetables for the sauce.
- Use an electric blender or an immersion blender to puree the vegetables into the sauce.
- Don't break the pasta. Pasta is not broken in Italy because the longer strands are easier (and neater) to wrap around a fork for eating. It's also easier to twirl with the tongs for an attractive presentation on the dinner plate.
- Cook noodles for the minimum amount of time listed on the package directions, or even a minute less. The noodles should be firm with a good "tooth" to them. They will continue to soften when they are added to the hot tomato sauce.
- Add a teaspoon of salt but no oil to the pot when you cook the pasta. Oil coats the noodles and causes the sauce to slide off of them rather than cling to them like it should. Just stir the pot from time to time to make sure the noodles don't stick together.
We hope you love this simple spaghetti al Pomodoro recipe! Serve it with a Caesar's salad and some garlic bread and maybe a glass of your favorite red wine. Mangia!
Have a comment or a vintage recipe you'd like to share? We'd love to hear from you! Please rate, comment, or send me an email at [email protected].
Audrey Hepburn's Spaghetti al Pomodoro Pasta Recipe
Equipment
- 1 deep skillet
- 1 6 quart pot
- 1 blender or immersion blender
Ingredients
- 2 - 28 oz. cans, peeled Italian Roma tomatoes
- 1 yellow onion diced
- 1 carrot diced
- 1 stalk celery diced
- 2 teaspoon extra virgin olive oil
- 6 basil leaves chopped
- 1 pinch sugar
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon black pepper freshly ground
- 1 cup parmigiano-reggiano cheese grated
Instructions
- Put undrained tomatoes and diced onion, carrot, and celery into a deep dish skillet, and cook, covered, over medium-high heat for 10 minutes.
- Remove lid and turn heat to medium-low; simmer for an additional 15 minutes, until vegetables soften.
- Add a teaspoon of olive oil and chopped basil leaves. Continue cooking uncovered on medium-low until water bubbles disappear and turn into sauce bubbles, and sauce thickens (about 20 minutes.) Remove from heat and allow to cool slightly.
- Transfer sauce to blender and puree briefly, until vegetables are blended and smooth. Return to skillet over low heat.
- Cook 1 lb. of spaghetti to al dente according to package directions. Drain.
- Add another teaspoon of olive oil and season sauce with salt, freshly ground pepper, and a pinch of sugar to taste.
- Serve with freshly grated parmigiano-reggiano cheese and a basil leaf on top.
Notes
- Notes:
- Use a dicing tool to quickly and easily prepare your vegetables for the sauce.
- Use an electric blender or an immersion blender to puree the vegetables into the sauce.
- Don't break the pasta. Pasta is not broken in Italy because the longer strands are easier (and neater) to wrap around a fork for eating. It's also easier to twirl with the tongs for an attractive presentation on the dinner plate.
- Cook noodles for the minimum amount of time listed on the package directions, or even a minute less. The noodles should be firm with a good "bite" to them. They will continue to soften when they are added to the hot tomato sauce.
- Add a teaspoon of salt but no oil to the pot when you cook the pasta. Oil coats the noodles and causes the sauce to slide off of them rather than cling to them like it should. Just stir the pot from time to time to make sure the noodles don't stick together.
