Sauce Appeal

• Italian grandmothers closely guard family recipes for gravy, the traditional red sauce for pasta dishes. These recipes can require hours of cooking, constant stirring and a long list of ingredients. A basic pomodoro sauce, in contrast, requires only four or five basic ingredients and only about 5 minutes of cooking time. Because of the quick cooking time, the ingredients retain much of their fresh flavor and can be distinguished from the other ingredients in the dish.

Pasta Preparation

• Capellini is the Italian name for angel hair pasta, which is characterized by very thin, long strands similar in shape and length to thicker spaghetti. Homemade, fresh pasta makes the dish most authentic, but you can also use boxed capellini. Bring a large pot of water to a boil and salt it generously. For a standard 1-pound box of pasta, provide at least 5 quarts of water so the noodles can move freely in the pot without sticking. Boil the angel hair, stirring occasionally, for about 8 minutes to al dente, or about 9 minutes for more tender pasta. Drain the noodles thoroughly, but do not rinse it, or the pasta loses the starches that help sauce cling to the strands.

Sauce Preparation

• If the ingredients are prepared in advance, pomodoro sauce can be cooked in the time it takes to boil the capellini. Heat olive oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Saute crushed garlic in the oil for 1 to 2 minutes or until the garlic is fragrant, but not browned. Toss in fresh, diced tomatoes, plus salt and pepper to taste. Saute until the tomatoes are hot, and the water is cooked off to a thicker sauce, usually about 3 minutes. No set rules exist as to the amount of ingredients, but, as a general guideline, use 1 1/2 garlic cloves for each medium tomato, and approximately 1/2 tablespoon of olive oil for every garlic clove in the sauce.

Dish Finish

• Pomodoro sauce and capellini cook together in the skillet for a minute or 2, allowing the tomato flavor to penetrate the noodles. This is where slight undercooking to al dente tenderness is important because the pasta cooks slightly more in the sauce. Toss the well-drained capellini into the skillet with the pomodoro sauce along with a handful of julienne-cut basil leaves. Stir the noodles until thoroughly coated. Serve the capellini pomodoro immediately. Some recipes add cream cheese to the skillet to make the sauce and the finished dish creamier. Another variation of basic capellini pomodoro uses sauteed sausage with the tomato sauce.