If you had any culinary takeaways from Hulu’s hit show “The Bear”, it’s that there’s no substituting the San Marzano tomatoes in “Family Meal Spaghetti”. Family meal is the pre-shift dinner shared by the whole staff before the frenetic energy of the evening sets in. This recipe was a cult favorite for the staff on the show, and for good reason! Real San Marzano Tomatoes are the secret ingredient to Chef Carmy’s success (quite literally!).
Ingredients
SERVES: 10
TIME: 45 minutes
- Butter, 75g / 5 tbsp
- Onion, 1, peeled and halved
- Extra Virgin Olive Oil, 120ml / 1/2 cup, plus more to serve
- Garlic cloves, 10, peeled
- Fresh basil, 30g / 1 oz, stems included, plus additional leaves to serve
- San Marzano Tomatoes, 2 tins (1.6kg / 56oz)
- Peperoncini, to taste
- Spaghetti Faella, 2 packages (1 kg / 2.2 lbs)
- Coarse sea salt, to taste
- Vacche Rosse Cheese, to serve
Preparation
- In a small saucepan, heat the extra virgin olive oil. Add the garlic cloves and heat through. Add the basil and cook until the basil has wilted and the garlic cloves have just begun to color. Take off the heat to cool.
- Melt the butter in a large dutch oven (or similar) over medium-low heat. Add the onion, cut side down, and cook until browned.
- Carefully add the San Marzano Tomatoes, rinsing every last drop out of the cans into the pot with a bit of water. Simmer for 20 minutes, using a wooden spoon to crush the larger chunks of tomato against the sides of the pot.
- Bring a large pot of water to a boil, adding salt to taste.
- Meanwhile, remove the garlic cloves from the infusion and pour the now slightly cooled oil into a food processor. Add peperoncini to taste. Blitz in spurts until thoroughly combined.
- Stir the infused basil oil into the tomatoes, and simmer for an additional 10 minutes. Taste and add salt if needed. Meanwhile, begin cooking the spaghetti.
- When the pasta is a minute or so away from al dente, remove the onion. Add the spaghetti to the sauce, stirring to coat, adding pasta water by the ladle until the spaghetti has finished cooking and the sauce has your desired consistency.
- Divide between bowls and serve sprinkled with additional fresh basil, a grating of vacche rosse cheese, and a drizzle of olive oil.