If you are looking for an easy and uncomplicated, beginner-friendly recipe that requires minimal cooking and ingredients, then bucatini pomodoro is what you have been looking for!
This staple of the Italian cuisine gets ready in only 20 minutes, yet it delivers a deliciously rich sauce you'll want a nice piece of bread to clean it all up.
Fresh basil, canned tomatoes, onion, and garlic create the pomodoro sauce that will hug your bucatini pasta and any other tomato-based sauce will be history!
Pomodoro means tomato in Italian, and tomato sauce is one of the easiest and most versatile recipes you can prepare.
Bucatini with tomato sauce is an easy mid-week dinner that you can prepare in little to no time, amend as you wish by adding vegetables, proteins, spices, or herbs, and easily satisfy everyone around the table.
In this recipe, you won't find special ingredients or hard-to-accomplish processes, but rather a very easy-to-follow one, that you will find yourself coming back to, like our ham and mushroom pasta and creamy mushroom pappardelle.
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💎 Why This Recipe Works
- It takes only 20 minutes to prepare.
- The pomodoro sauce uses staple ingredients most have already.
- The dish can be personalized with the addition of vegetables, proteins, and spices.
- The sauce works perfectly with any pasta shape!
🛒 Ingredients
- Bucatini Pasta: These are thicker spaghetti with a hole running through them. Buco means 'hole' in Italian, which helps make sense of the name! These can be found in large grocery shops or delis, and if you have any left, you can make bucatini carbonara.
- Peeled Whole Canned Tomatoes: Peeled plum tomatoes are great for this rich sauce, are incredibly affordable, and can be found in any grocery store.
- Fresh Garlic, Onions, Fresh Basil: These three must be fresh, no paste or powder replacements will offer the same result. What you can get away with though [and I know as I use them often] are fresh-frozen garlic and basil leaves, as they retain most of the flavor.
- Olive Oil: Extra virgin olive oil gives extra flavor and texture, however, if you don't have it, an unflavored oil will work too - although it won't be the same.
- Sugar: If the tomatoes are too acidic, you will require half a teaspoon to balance them out.
🔔 Be sure to check out the recipe card for all the ingredients and instructions you'll need to make this dish. Don't miss out on any of the details!
📑 Substitutions and Variations
- Pasta: Feel free to use any pasta shape of your liking.
- Tomato: You can use any type you like. You can find peeled cherry tomatoes as well as chopped tomatoes, which work well too. Fresh tomatoes or the very nominated San Marzano tomatoes can be used too, but are not necessary to achieve a delicious sauce.
- Onions: You can use any color onion you have, and they will all give a little different result. While yellow onions will have quite a pungent flavor, they are an all rounder and will work well, however, if you are after a sweeter note, opt for white or red onions instead. Shallots are quite strong too, and will deliver a similar result to yellow onions.
- Proteins: Once the onions have softened, feel free to add any protein you like. My personal favorites are diced chorizo, pancetta, or canned tuna. However, roast chicken or chopped ham hock will do the job well too.
- Cheese: Top your pasta with some Parmesan cheese, pecorino romano, crumbled feta, or yummy mozzarella cheese.
- Spicy sauce: You can add some red pepper flakes to the sauce, or follow this easy Arrabbiata recipe instead!
- Herbs: Dried herbs that work well are oregano or a little sage, but try to avoid dried basil as it doesn't taste as nice! Fresh parsley is delicious too.
- Vegetables: Add some olives or stir a few spinach leaves through the sauce for added volume. Or try one of my favorite versions, and add some roasted Mediterranean vegetables for the ultimate delight.
👩🏻🍳 How to Cook (step-by-step)
- Pour the can of peeled tomatoes into a bowl and roughly mash using a fork. The pieces won't need to be small or similar in size but broken down enough to mix easily. [Picture 1]
- In a frying pan, warm up the olive oil over medium heat. Once warm, reduce the flame to low and add the roughly chopped garlic. [Picture 2]
- Allow the garlic to flavor the oil for a couple of minutes until it starts turning golden.
- Next, add the thinly sliced onions and a little salt and pepper [cracked black pepper is optional!] and mix well using a wooden spoon. Increase to medium heat and allow to soften, until golden, not brown. [Picture 3]
- Finally, add the canned tomatoes to the pan and stir well. Ensure you include all the juices, as these will evaporate while cooking. Apply the lid to the frying pan and once the sauce simmers, allow it to continue cooking for 5 minutes. [Picture 4]
- IN THE MEANTIME: Cook the bucatini pasta in a large pot of boiling salted water according to package instructions. Many pasta brands offer two cooking times, one for al dente and one for fully cooked; follow the instructions for al dente, as the pasta will further cook in the pomodoro sauce for a few minutes.
- After 5 minutes, add the fresh basil leaves to the sauce, mix well once more, and allow the tomato sauce to continue cooking on a low flame for a further 7-10 minutes [or until the bucatini are ready, which should be around 8 minutes]. At this stage taste for salt and acidity as well, and add salt and sugar if required. If the tomato sauce dries a little, add a few tablespoons of pasta water and remove from the heat. [Picture 5]
- Drain the cooked pasta and add it straight away to the pomodoro sauce. Do not overdrain the bucatini pasta, and if a little cooking water goes into the sauce, it's fine.[Picture 6]
- Mix the bucatini with the tomato sauce over medium-low heat for a minute or two. [Picture 7]
- Serve with some freshly grated Parmesan cheese and a few fresh basil leaves on top.
🙋 People Also Ask [FAQs]
The word pomodoro comes from 'pomo d'oro', which means golden apple in Italian, and it is what tomatoes are called. The name comes from the juicy tomatoes that are usually used in the sauce, often golden-yellow in color. So pomodoro sauce means tomato sauce.
Bucatini pasta is like thick spaghetti whit a whole that runs through the middle of them, making them similar to thin long straws. They are heavier than spaghetti, and this pasta shape very popular in central Italy, can be found under the name Perciatelli as well.
Both are tomato sauces, but slightly different. Pomodoro sauce is a rich, thick tomato sauce that is used to dress pasta and consists of onion, garlic, fresh basil, and tomato. Marinara sauce, on the other hand, is often used on top of pizza [the famous Italian red pizza, without mozzarella, is called marinara], and doesn't use onion or basil, but dried oregano and extra garlic instead.
💡 Expert Tips and Tricks
- Smooth Sauce: If you prefer your sauce to be smooth, then follow the same recipe using a can of passata instead. Whole tomatoes can be used as well, however, the seeds can be bitter if blended, so clear their core before cooking if you are planning to blitz the sauce using an immersion blender or food processor.
- Creamy: If you are not following a vegan diet, then you can try using some unsalted butter instead of olive oil. This will offer a rich, creamy sauce without the need for actual cream.
🥡 Storing & Reheating
I recommend cooking only the pasta you plan to eat, and storing the leftover pasta sauce if necessary. Long pasta is harder to reheat than short pasta, so if you are planning to cook this for your lunch box, opt for penne, rigatoni, or fusilli instead.
- Storing pomodoro sauce in the fridge: You can store it in an airtight container in the fridge for up to three days.
- Storing pomodoro sauce in the freezer: The sauce can be stored in a freezer-safe container or bag, in the freezer for up to three months. Fully defrost and reheat before serving.
👋 Have you given this recipe a try? We'd love to hear your thoughts! Please leave us a ⭐ review below, and don't forget to tag us @spiceandlife_com on Instagram and Pinterest. Your feedback means the world to us, and we really appreciate it. For more recipes, follow us on Pinterest, Facebook, YouTube, and Instagram. Thank you! 🙏
🍽️ Recipe
20 Minute Italian Bucatini Pomodoro Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoon Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- 2 Garlic Cloves peeled and chopped
- 1 Medium Onion thinly sliced
- 1 Can Peeled Whole Tomatoes [14.5 oz = 400g]
- 10-15 Fresh Basil Leaves adjust quantity to taste
- 5 oz Bucatini Pasta
- ½ teaspoon Sugar if required
- Salt and Pepper to taste
Instructions
- Pour the can of peeled tomatoes into a bowl and roughly mash using a fork.
- In a frying pan, warm up the olive oil over medium heat. Once warm, reduce the flame to low and add the roughly chopped garlic.
- Allow the garlic to flavor the oil for a couple of minutes, until it starts turning golden.
- Next, add the thinly sliced onions and a little salt and pepper [pepper is optional] and mix well using a wooden spoon. Increase to medium heat and allow to soften, until golden, not brown.
- Finally, add the canned tomatoes to the pan and stir well. Ensure you include all the juices, as these will evaporate while cooking. Apply the lid to the frying pan and allow it to simmer for 5 minutes.
- In the meantime, cook the bucatini pasta in a large pot of boiling salted water according to package instructions, Many pasta packets offer two cooking times, one for al dente and one for fully cooked; follow the instructions for al dente, as the pasta will further cook in the pomodoro sauce for a few minutes.
- After 5 minutes, add the fresh basil leaves to the sauce, mix well once more, and allow the tomato sauce to continue cooking on a low flame for a further 7-10 minutes [or until the bucatini are ready, which should be around 8 minutes]. At this stage taste for salt and acidity as well, and add salt and sugar if required. If the tomato sauce dries a little, add a few tablespoons of cooking water and remove from the heat.
- Once the pasta is ready, drain it and add it straight away to the pomodoro sauce. Do not overdrain the bucatini pasta, and if a little cooking water goes into the sauce, it's fine.
- Mix the bucatini to the tomato sauce over medium low heat for a minute or two.
- Serve with some freshly grated Parmesan cheese and a few fresh basil leaves on top.
Notes
- Storing the sauce in the fridge: You can store it in an airtight container in the fridge for up to three days.
- Storing the sauce in the freezer: The sauce can be stored in a freezer-safe container or bag in the freezer for up to three months. Fully defrost and reheat before serving.
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