Spicy spaghetti with tomatoes, made from scratch

Spaghetti just the way I like it; whole wheat pasta, al dente, spicy, vegetarian, freshly made!

Spaghetti and tomato sauce is a basic, easy to make and inexpensive dish; mostly loved by children and college students. It’s fun to eat and colourful. I’ve made spaghetti and tomato sauce since the 90’s. Some years ago, I created my own version of this dish, with my favourite spices and fresh ingredients. I love to have it for lunch.

This easy to make dish is so good that it feels like eating comfort food however, it’s quite healthy. The whole wheat pasta is full of fibre and digests slowly leaving you satisfied for hours, olive oil is good fat, chillies and spices are good for you, tomatoes have plenty of antioxidants and water, and their skin has fibre.

However, make sure that you only eat one portion, the idea is to slowly enjoy the flavours and not end up feeling full.

Ingredients:

Serves: 1 | Preparation time: 30 minutes

100 gr. Whole wheat spaghetti

1 ½ Cups of cherry tomatoes

2 Strawberries

1 Shallot

1 Fresh birds eye chilli pepper

3 Garlic cloves

2 Bay leaves

Olive oil

1 tbsp. Balsamic vinegar

1/2 tsp. Ground cumin

1/2 tsp. Ground turmeric

1/2 tsp. Dried tarragon

5 Big fresh basil leaves

Salt and ground black pepper to taste

Instructions:

The sauce:

1. Rinse the cherry tomatoes and cut in half lengthwise.
2. Rinse and chop strawberries.
3. Finely slice the shallot.
4. Peel the garlic cloves, cut in half and remove the germ.
5. Heat about two tablespoons of olive oil in medium heat in a wok or a pan big enough to fit the cooked pasta.
6. Throw in the garlic cloves and move them around to release their aroma but do not colour.
7. Sweat shallots until soft and translucent.
8. Add chillies, cumin, turmeric, tarragon, and mix.
9. Incorporate tomatoes and strawberries, mix well and add bay leaves.
10. Add balsamic vinegar and let everything cook in low heat. Cook until tomatoes are soft with the skin coming off. If needed, crush a little bit the tomatoes to release their juice.
11. Season to taste with salt and ground black pepper and turn off the heat.

The pasta:

1. Add water to a saucepan and bring to a boil.
2. When it starts to boil, add a pinch of salt and the pasta.
3. Lower the heat to medium and cook for eight minutes.
4. Drain the pasta and mix it with the sauce in the wok or pan.
5. Once you serve it on a plate, sprinkle a little bit of good quality olive oil and decorate with basil leaves, some torn with your hands to release more flavour.

I like to serve it with the bay leaves and garlic cloves included eventhough I don’t eat them. You may remove them before serving, if you prefer.

Enjoy!

You might be interested to read a Tomato and red bell pepper risotto recipe.