Scott Conant makes a mean spaghetti, and I (and you!) can make a pretty good one
Here’s something that you should try: chef Scott Conant’s famous spaghetti with buttery tomato sauce. You can pay $24 for it at Scarpetta, or you can follow this recipe and make it yourself. I can vouch for its easiness and deliciousness. Recommended!
A few comments, if you do go ahead and make it:
Peeling the tomatoes — which you do by boiling them for 15 seconds, putting them into some ice water, and then picking at the skin with a paring knife — is a surprisingly fun way to spend a few minutes!
At Scarpetta, the tomato sauce is smooth. But mine ended up with a few chunky, fibrous bits, and I think that’s because the fresh tomatoes I used had centers that were tougher than their soft outer flesh. When you’re squeezing the seeds out, since you’re already being fussy, consider cutting out the little tomato hearts.
Be careful how much oil you initially put in the tomato sauce pan. The recipe calls for two tablespoons, but when I see something like that I usually just eyeball it and pour a little pancake in the middle of the pan. But I ended up with a sauce that was too oily, so next time I’m actually going to measure out those two tablespoons.
You make a basil- and garlic- and red pepper-infused oil with this recipe, and it says to let it steep for 20 minutes. But, it continues, “The longer you let the oil sit, the more infused the oil.” So I let it sit for 30 minutes. Why not? But it turns out there is a “why not”: the flavor of those little red pepper flakes seeps out and actually makes the oil pretty spicy — too spicy, really. So either use less than a “generous” pinch of red pepper flakes or let the oil sit for just about 20 minutes.
This recipe calls for two tablespoons of butter, which is what makes this recipe, I think. I was making a half recipe, so I used one. But you know what? I could have used a little more. Maybe that’s just me. So consider going generous on the butter. The sauce really should look a little orange, not bright tomato red.
This has been today’s episode of “Cooking with Thomas”! Be sure to tune in tomorrow.
