Tuscan Pasta Soffritto

Tuscan Pasta Soffritto.

Italian Tuscan Pasta Soffritto in tomato sauce and Basil. Easy and quick recipe. With step by step pictures.

“As long as there’s pasta and Chinese food in the world, I’m okay.” If I really like you, Tuscan Pasta – this is what I would make for you when you are at home with me. This Tuscan Pasta is a veggie pasta full of flavor and it is hearty, rich and will definitely make you feel very satisfied. A lot of my friends make note of this recipe once I have cooked this Tuscan Pasta for them. I am sharing it here for the love of good pasta. A french mirepoix is a mixture of chopped celery, onions, and carrots. Its called as the holy trinity of veggies. The Italian version of mirepoix is called soffritto. It is the foundation for many Tuscan sauces. An Italian soffritto is made with olive oil, especially in Southern Italy, rather than butter, as in France and may also contain garlic, and herbs. It is also called as “false ragout”, because soffritto is thought to vaguely recall the flavor of meat sauce. So what are we waiting for. Lets go and mangia mangia baby

For the soffritto mixture
Chop the onions and celery very finely. I like to keep the sauce thick. So I run my carrots in a food processor / mixie instead of chopping it. Get these ready. Set aside.

Heat a heavy bottomed pan and add in the olive oil and garlic. I run the garlic through the garlic press. Add in a teaspoon of store bought dry Italian herb mixture. (Any store bought kind will do. Mine had oregano,thyme,dried garlic and basil). I learned a great tip from Chef Suvir Saran. He once told that waking up the spices and herbs in oil is the best method to bring them alive. Its the greatest indian technique of tempering spices called the tadka that not only works wonders on Indian cooking but to any cooking. It works every single time. I do it for all my cooking. Not just Indian.

Add in the soffritto mixture and salt and fry well until cooked down by half. Usually soffritto is not browned. But for this recipe, we want the veggies to nicely cook down and caramelize. It adds a very nice flavor. Cook for 10-15 minutes on medium flame sauteing constantly so the mixture does not stick to the bottom of the pan.

Add in the pureed skinned, de-seeded tomatoes. I just run the tomatoes in the food processor / mixie and strain. That’s my easy route to skinned de-seeded tomatoes. I just strain the tomatoes right over the pan.

Add in a teaspoon of apple cider vinegar and a big pinch of sugar. Sugar rounds out the flavor of the tomatoes and the vinegar tangs it up.

Add in fresh ground pepper and let the sauce simmer in low flame for 5 minutes. Check for seasoning. Add more salt if necessary.

Add in the cooked and drained pasta. Add in half a cup of cream and freshly chopped basil. Basil is what gives this dish that unique taste. Do not skip Basil. Remove off heat.

Serve hot.
Buon Appetito!

Tuscan Pasta Soffritto

 

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Prep time

20 mins

Cook time

30 mins

Total time

50 mins

 

Italian Tuscan Pasta Soffritto in tomato sauce and Basil. Easy and quick recipe.

Author: Kannamma - Suguna Vinodh

Recipe type: Pasta

Cuisine: Italian

Serves: 3

Ingredients

For the soffritto mixture

• 2 medium sized onions
• 3 carrots
• 6-7 stalks celery

Other Ingredients

• 150 grams pasta, cooked and drained
• 2 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 teaspoon dried italian herb
• 4-5 cloves garlic
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 8 very ripe tomatoes
• 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• freshly ground pepper to taste
• ½ cup cream
• 7-8 leaves fresh basil

Instructions

1. Chop the onions and celery very finely. I like to keep the sauce thick. So I run my carrots in a food processor / mixie instead of chopping it. Get these ready. Set aside.
2. Heat a heavy bottomed pan and add in the olive oil and garlic. I run the garlic through the garlic press. Add in a teaspoon of store bought dry Italian herb mixture. (Any store bought kind will do. Mine had oregano,thyme,dried garlic and basil). I learned a great tip from Chef Suvir Saran. He once told that waking up the spices and herbs in oil is the best method to bring them alive. Its the greatest indian technique of tempering spices called the tadka that not only works wonders on Indian cooking but to any cooking. It works every single time. I do it for all my cooking. Not just Indian.
3. Add in the soffritto mixture and salt and fry well until cooked down by half. Usually soffritto is not browned. But for this recipe, we want the veggies to nicely cook down and caramelize. It adds a very nice flavor. Cook for 10-15 minutes on medium flame sauteing constantly so the mixture does not stick to the bottom of the pan.
4. Add in the pureed skinned, de-seeded tomatoes. I just run the tomatoes in the food processor / mixie and strain. That’s my easy route to skinned de-seeded tomatoes. I just strain the tomatoes right over the pan.
5. Add in a teaspoon of apple cider vinegar and a big pinch of sugar. Sugar rounds out the flavor of the tomatoes and the vinegar tangs it up.
6. Add in fresh ground pepper and let the sauce simmer in low flame for 5 minutes. Check for seasoning. Add more salt if necessary.
7. Add in the cooked and drained pasta. Add in half a cup of cream and freshly chopped basil. Basil is what gives this dish that unique taste. Do not skip Basil. Remove off heat.

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