20 Minute Italian Bucatini Pomodoro Recipe | Spice and Life (2024)

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.

💎 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.

2. 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]
3. Allow the garlic to flavor the oil for a couple of minutes until it starts turning golden.

4. 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]

8. 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]

9. Mix the bucatini with the tomato sauce over medium-low heat for a minute or two. [Picture 7]
10. Serve with some freshly grated Parmesan cheese and a few fresh basil leaves on top.

🙋 People Also Ask [FAQs]

💡 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 most types of 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.

• ▢ 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

• 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.

How to store bucatini pomodoro?

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 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.

Feel free to use any pasta shape you like and have, and cook following the package instructions.