Butterfly Pasta with tomato sauce recipe for beginners

This simple recipe is suitable for all types of pasta: We use butterfly pasta — also known as Farfalle because it is so gratifying!

Ingredients for the Butterfly Pasta with tomato sauce

• some durum wheat pasta: Spaghetti, sleeve stripes, feathers and half feathers, butterfly; there is a wide variety of durum wheat pasta, which can be chosen according to your taste. Generally the amount are 80 grams per serving, so 320 grams for 4 people;
• 1 can of peeled tomatoes;
• 1 clove of garlic;
• extra virgin olive oil;
• salt;
• coarse salt;
• half a teaspoon of sugar;
• 1 small piece of dry red chili — just to flavor the whole thing;
• 5 leaves of basil.

Preparation of the Butterfly Pasta with tomato sauce

In a pan (e.g. the ceramic nonstick pan about 26 cm in diameter) put a little extra virgin olive oil and place a clove of garlic without its skin with a pinch of red chili. Some people cut in two the garlic and remove the green soul to make it more digestible.

Cook with moderate heat for half a minute and then add the tomatoes. Be careful when you put the tomatoes because if you kept the fire too high, the tomatoes spatter on all sides.

Add half teaspoon of sugar that takes away the sour taste of the tomatoes (why not sugarcane), a pinch of salt and 3 basil leaves chopped with your fingers.

Cook over medium heat for 10/15 minutes without lid, stirring occasionally. Be careful that the sauce does not dry too much, if it happens turn off the fire after a while.

In the meantime, put a saucepan full of water to 3/4 with the lid. We suggest a pot 16 cm high with a diameter of 18 cm and it is fine for the preparation up to a half a pound of pasta. The lid helps the water to boil more quickly: the time to boil the water depends on the atmospheric pressure. We wrote an article about that.

When the water boils add the salt, wait until the water boil again, put the pasta into the pot and mix.

Cook uncovered, mix from time to time and when the pasta is cooked drain it. Follow the time written on the packaging of the pasta. However I recommend to taste it before draining because everyone has own tastes about consistency of the pasta: I like it al dente.

If the drain is made with a colander in the sink, turn on the cold water; it mixes with the boiling water reducing the degrees and do not ruin the exhaust pipes.

If you can, keep a bit of the boiling water which can be used to mix the sauce if it is too dry.

Pour the drained pasta into the pan where the tomato sauce is just done, add the other two leaves of basil cut with your fingers and mix well. If the pasta is too dry, add a little bit of the kept hot water.

Tomato butterflies are ready!