I haven’t posted a recipe in quite a while. Despite doing lots of cooking! Maybe it’s the lack of light to take decent photos around the time when I’m cooking, i.e. late afternoon. But now spring is here, we get more light in the flat, yay!
This is a super quick and easy recipe to make. And one of my favourites!
This will feed 2-3 people depending on how hungry/greedy they are! ;-) You could also serve it with a side of salad and it will be enough for 3-4 people I think. You could also add twice the amount of beans to get a sturdier meal.
Tony doesn’t like spaghetti, so this is obviously way too much for me to eat in one sitting! So I usually have this for dinner one night, and use the leftovers like this: I cook a bit extra spaghetti and then I have the leftover spaghetti and a bit of sauce for lunch the next day. And I freeze about a third of the sauce for an easy dinner some other time. Or! use leftovers on a pizza, maybe with a sprinkling of thinly sliced onion. Delicious!
Spaghetti & cannellini in tomato & basil sauce
Ingredients
Enough dry spaghetti for 2-3 people
• a bit of oil for sauteeing (or use water if you prefer)
• 3 cloves of garlic, chopped
• 1/4 teaspoon of ground black pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon smoked paprika (or regular if you havent’ got the smoked stuff. But it’s worth investing in, it makes many dishes extra delicious! I use this one.)
• 1 tablespoon dried oregano
• 1½ tablespoon dried basil
• 1 tin of cannellini beans, rinsed and drained
• 500 grams tomato passata (I use this one)
• 3-4 tomatoes, chopped
• a handful of fresh basil, chopped/torn
• salt to taste
How to do it
Fire up a large sauce pan of water for the spaghetti. Once the water boils, add the spaghetti and some salt. Turn the heat down so the water is still bubbling slightly, but not boiling over.
Sautée the garlic and spices in the oil (water) until the garlic becomes fragrant.
Add the dried basil and oregano. If the ingredients are a bit dry now, add a little bit of water so things won’t burn.
Stir for a minute, then add the beans and half the chopped tomatoes. Stir frequently for 3-5 minutes until the tomatoes start to break up.
Then add half of the tomato passata. Stir and then leave to simmer for 2-3 minutes.
Add the rest of the passata and the chopped tomatoes along with the fresh basil leaves.
Taste the sauce, add a bit of salt if you like.
The spaghetti should be done by now. Take it off the heat, drain and rinse quickly in cold water. It won’t make the spaghetti cold, it rinses of some of the salt and starchiness.
Serve and enjoy! :-)
