Ooooh this Smoky Tomato Sauce with Spaghetti dish is an absolute staple in my student kitchen – I cannot believe it´s taken me this long to get the recipe written up for my blog! Must be that I usually devour it before I can even remember to take any pictures!
Anyway, this Smoky Tomato Sauce with Spaghetti recipe is super easy to make, perfect for batch cooking, tastes amazing and can be adapted to suit any dietary requirements! It´s great for students or families and is a great speedy weeknight dinner idea! The recipe uses mostly store cupboard ingredients, so why not go and give this recipe a go right away?!
How to make the Smoky Tomato Sauce
I love making this smoky tomato sauce and it is so simple to make! The base of the tomato sauce is a mixture of onions, garlic, chilli, and red pepper, as well as some smoked bacon if you are wanting to choose to make the non-veggie option. Make sure to cut the onions and pepper into quite small pieces if you want to make a relatively smooth sauce. You can of course also opt for a slightly chunkier sauce or even purée it at the end if you don´t like there to be any bits at all! Personally, I like meeting half-way with a fairly smooth sauce that has just a little bit of bite/texture to it. The stalks of the basil are also packed with flavour, so make sure to chop those and add them to the sauce as well! Waste not, want not!
To make this tomato sauce recipe “smoky” I add a generous amount of smoked paprika powder to the base ingredients mentioned above! It can be quite a strong flavour, so be careful not to overdo it. A little more “smokiness” is added if you are using the smoked bacon as well.
For the tomato sauce, I first cook out some tomato purée with the base ingredients to create a nice foundation tomato flavour. Then I add 500ml of passata to make a smooth tomato sauce, but you could also opt for a tin of chopped tomatoes if you like your sauce to be a little “chunkier”.
Tips for Cooking Pasta
I know you might be thinking “Tseeee – I know how to make pasta!”, but I do have a few tips and tricks for truly mastering the art of this cooking basic! Some of which are crucial for adding maximum flavour and stretching out the tomato sauce a little!
For one, do not overcook your spaghetti when making this dish! It is better if the spaghetti is more on the firm side when you drain it, as the pasta is then added to the sauce to heat through and will continue to cook a little there. If it´s already quite soft, it may just turn into mush!
The next tip would be to really generously salt the pasta cooking water! You will be using some of the starchy pasta water near the end of its cooking time to help stretch out and thicken the smoky tomato sauce a little, but it will also help add a bunch of flavour if you have seasoned it well beforehand!
For more tips on cooking pasta and how best to season and reserve some of the cooking water, check out my Student Cooking Basics post on How to Cook Pasta Properly here!
How to make this Smoky Tomato Sauce for Meal Prep
Meal prep really is a student´s best friend, as well as for everyone who isn´t a great fan of cooking! By just planning ahead and cooking larger portions, you won´t have to cook as often! The quantities below for the smoky tomato sauce are enough for about 3-4 servings. When I make this dish and I am on my own, I usually make one portion to eat immediately, one to have the next day and two to put into the freezer.
Reheating the next day…
If you are wanting to eat a portion the next day, you can already cook the spaghetti for it and then just leave the tomato sauce-coated spaghetti in the fridge overnight, before re-heating it in the microwave the next day. Make sure you add a splash of boiling water to the bowl first, but beware that reheating the pasta in the microwave will cause it to go a little mushy. So despite that being the fastest way, I would recommend just reserving and storing the sauce in the fridge, and then cooking a fresh serving of pasta (~75g dry pasta) the next day and preparing the dish as described in the next section after freezing.
Freezing…
If there are any portions of sauce that you would like to freeze, remove them from the frying pan and put them into a freezer-friendly container before adding the cooked pasta. Leave the sauce to cool completely before covering it with a lid and freezing it. When ready to eat, defrost it and then re-heat it in a small saucepan. Once again, add some of the pasta cooking water to the sauce when you are cooking some fresh pasta to serve it with. Then stir in the cooked pasta until coated and you are good to go!
More Student-friendly Cooking Recipes
I am a great fan of batch cooking and meal prep, and I have a large range of different recipes suitable for that here on my blog! You´ll find anything ranging from curries, pasta sauces, pizzas, chillies, and salads, and I have loads of different options to meet all dietary requirements! Go check out some of my favourites listed below!
- Chicken, Sweet Potato and Spinach Curry
- Mixed Bean Chilli | Vegan
- Easy Student Lasagne Recipe
- Pasta, Spinach Sauce and Salmon
- Homemade Pizza | Easy Student Pizza Dough Recipe
- Spaghetti with Sundried Tomato Pesto and Feta Cheese
- Chickpea and Spinach Curry | Vegan
- Quick Couscous Salad | Healthy Lunch
- Chicken Supreme | Creamy Chicken and Mushroom Sauce with Rice
- Veggie Chilli with Roasted Sweet Potatoes | Vegan
- Pasta with Cheese Sauce (and Crispy Bacon)
- Spicy Harissa Aubergine Sweet Potato Pie
Smoky Tomato Sauce with Spaghetti | Student Cooking Recipe
Recipe
Ingredients (serves 4):
- ½ tbsp olive oil
- 1 large (or two medium) onions, finely diced
- 3 rashers of smoked back bacon, chopped (simply omit for a veggie/vegan version)
- 4 cloves of garlic, minced
- 1 red pepper, finely diced
- 1 red chilli, sliced (optional)
- Small bunch of fresh basil
- 2 tbsp tomato purée
- 2 tsp smoked paprika powder
- 1 tsp hot chilli powder (optional)
- 500g (1 carton) passata
- 250-300g spaghetti
- Mozzarella, Cheddar or Parmesan cheese (or vegan alternative), grated, to serve
Method:
- Heat the oil in a large frying pan over a medium heat. Add the finely chopped onion and gently fry for 5-10 minutes until soft and translucent.
- Turn up the heat a little and add the bacon. Fry for 2-3 minutes until the bacon starts to brown. Next, add in the garlic, red pepper and chilli. Finely chop the basil stalks and add them to the pan, too.
- Stir in the tomato purée and spices and cook out for a further 2-3 minutes.
- In the meantime, bring a large pot of water to the boil and generously salt. Then cook the spaghetti according to their packet instructions for about 8-12 minutes until they are al dente. Don’t over-cook the pasta, as it will continue to cook a little once added to the pasta sauce (more tips for cooking pasta here).
- Pour the 500g of passata into the frying pan with the sauce and stir into the other ingredients. Bring to the boil and leave the sauce to bubble and thicken. Once the spaghetti nears the end of its cooking time, add about 2-3 large ladles of pasta cooking water to the tomato sauce.
- Drain the pasta in a colander, reserving some of the cooking water in case you need to thin out the sauce a little more. Toss the cooked spaghetti in the tomato sauce until fully coated (check out my tips above if you are batch cooking and not needing all 4 portions at once!). Add a little more pasta water if necessary.
- Serve your smoky tomato sauce and spaghetti with some freshly chopped basil leaves and grated cheese!
