A light, silken tomato sauce coats these spaghetti noodles. Crafted from tomatoes, garlic, and onion, the simple ingredients typical of Neapolitan fare, it’s ready almost as soon as the noodles are al dente.
Every cook should have this simple, healthy, and homey recipe in their knowledge base!
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Ingredients
- Spaghetti pasta
- Olive oil
- Onion
- Garlic
- Spices
- Canned tomatoes
- Sugar
- Fresh basil (optional)
Spaghetti: For extra fiber and minerals, use half whole-wheat noodles. No one will notice.
Olive oil: Use good-quality olive oil with a mild taste. Save your fruity, darker green stuff to enjoy with bread.
Onion: White or yellow are best for this recipe.
Garlic: Fresh garlic, not paste or powder, is essential.
Tomatoes: Some brands to look for are Pomi, Cento, Red Gold, Muir Glen, and Mutti, highly rated by The New York Times.
Spices: Oregano, black pepper, and salt. Or, use an Italian herbs and spices blend.
Basil: Fresh basil, sliced thinly and added at the end of cooking, truly amps the flavor. But if you’re in a hurry or don’t have it on hand, it’s not absolutely necessary.
How to Make
Wash and dry your hands thoroughly before you start cooking.
Fill a large pot almost halfway with water. This pasta pot has a lid with holes for easy draining. Start heating the water to the boiling point.
While the water is heating, set a large, high-sided skillet on the stovetop over medium-high heat. Pour in the olive oil; when it’s hot, cook the chopped onion until translucent. Turn the heat down if the onion starts to brown too much.
Toss in the garlic and spices and cook for about a minute, until fragrant.
Add the tomatoes and stir, scraping up any browned bits. Turn the heat down to a simmer, and add sugar to the tomato-onion-garlic mixture. Simmer for 15 minutes.
While the sauce simmers, boil the noodles according to package directions until al dente.
When the spaghetti is finished, drain the pasta, reserving about a cup of starchy cooking water.
Add the noodles and half a cup of pasta water to the skillet. If the mixture seems dry, add more water until it reaches the desired consistency.
Mix in the Parmesan and fresh basil.
Serve with more Parmesan on the side.
👨🍳 Cooking tips
Although you may be hesitant to add sugar, just a pinch or two will help smooth out the acid in the tomatoes and improve the sauce's flavor.
Pour off about half the cooking water before taking the cup needed for the sauce. The remaining water has more starch and is better for thickening the sauce.
When you add the pasta, you can also toss in extras--like cooked shrimp, leftover rotisserie chicken, or cooked bits of ham or sausage. This pasta recipe also plays well with cooked vegetables like asparagus, mushrooms, or broccoli.
(It's a perfect canvas for leftovers!)
Vegetable variations
Many recipes for pasta alla Napoletana or Napolitana (aka Spaghetti Napoli) also call for carrot and/or celery, which are sauteed along with the onion.
Some Napolitana recipes suggest using cherry tomatoes in place of or in addition to regular tomatoes.
Another popular addition is olives!
Protein-rich variations
🍤 Shrimp are terrific in this light tomato sauce.
Of course, pork products like ham, cooked sausages, or bacon are marvelous with tomato sauce and pasta.
Vegan variation: Make the sauce, but leave out the Parmesan cheese. You can always pass it on the side.
Hot: Add some chili flakes.
Is Spaghetti Napoli healthy?
Yes! This vegetarian pasta meal offers healthy carbs, protein, fiber, vitamins, and phytonutrients.
With around 45 carbs per serving, Spaghetti Napoli is a great choice for endurance athletes and others who need energy for their daily workouts and to keep glycogen stores high in their muscles.
In addition to carbs, pasta made with wheat flour provides up to eight grams of protein per serving. One serving of the recipe has about 10 grams of protein.
Pasta also has fiber, with whole wheat varieties having twice as much as white.
Canned tomatoes contain plenty of vitamin C, some B vitamins, and phytonutrients. Canned tomatoes are an amazing source of lycopene, a powerful antioxidant carotenoid.
🍅 Eating foods high in lycopene benefits heart health by decreasing atherosclerosis and inflammation, improving cholesterol levels, and positively affecting blood pressure.
Lycopene may also have particular benefits for men’s health, such as improving fertility and decreasing the risk of prostate cancer.
Spaghetti Napoli also has plenty of quercetin, primarily from the onions. Quercetin, the most common phytonutrient in our food, is another antioxidant that protects against heart disease and cancer.
❓ FAQs
- What is another name for Napolitana sauce? Is it the same as marinara?
Sugo, marinara, Neapolitan, Napoletana, Salsa Pomodoro, and Napoli are all names for Italian tomato sauce.
- How is Napoli or Napoleatana sauce different from Bolognese?
Bolognese is a meaty ragu with beef, pork, and/or veal added near the beginning of sauce preparation. The prep is not nearly as speedy, and it simmers for much longer.
- Is it vegetarian?
Yes, the basic recipe is wholly vegetarian.
- Is there any way to prepare it even faster?
🧅 Frozen onions and garlic cubes (from Dorot) can speed the prep, shaving five to 10 minutes. Buying fresh pasta doesn’t save time because you still have to wait for the sauce to finish, and dried pasta cooks during that time.
🧀 Also, have your Parmesan already grated, whether you start with a chunk of Parmigiano-Reggiano or purchase a tub from the cheese section.
How to serve
Spaghetti Napoli is flexible. Make it a main meal or a side dish. It pairs well with a thin slice of chicken breast or pork cutlet. It's equally delicious with chicken or pork Italian sausages.
Shrimp complement this light-style pasta dish, either added to the sauce at the end of cooking or grilled/broiled as an accompaniment.
A simple green vegetable or salad makes a complete dinner.
Other recipes that you might like…
Try the Grilled Asparagus in Foil to accompany the spaghetti. The lightning-fast foil packets cook in the oven or on the grill.
Zucchini Carrot Salad in Lemony Dressing would make a refreshing side high in nutrition.
If you enjoy food with Italian flair, try Minestrone di Verdure, another recipe with zucchini. This easy, palate-pleasing green soup has a float of pesto on top!
(A dollop of pesto on top of the Spaghetti Napoli would be welcome, too!)
If you’re looking for high-protein pasta recipes, Creamy Coconut Curry with Chicken is a one-pot meal that calls for chickpea pasta. No sides are necessary, and it’s great for those with food allergies!
Spaghetti Napoli
Equipment
- 1 pasta pot or use a large pot and a strainer
- spatula or wooden spoon
Ingredients
- 8 ounces spaghetti can use whole wheat for half or more
- 1 Tablesoon olive oil
- ½ large onion
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 14-ounce can tomatoes or, use, 3 medium tomatoes, with the skins and seeds removed
- ¼ cup basil, sliced
- ¼ cup Parmesan cheese use Parmigiano-Reggiano if possible
Instructions
- Get ready to start cooking by washing your hands thoroughly for 20 seconds.
- Fill a large pot with water for the pasta and let it come to a boil as you begin to make the sauce.
- In a large skillet, heat the olive oil. When it shimmers, add the chopped onion and cook until translucent.Add the garlic and cook for a minute, until fragrant.
- Add the pepper, salt, and spices.
- Add the chopped tomatoes and bring the mixture to a boil. Then, lower the heat and add sugar to smooth the acid of the tomatoes, if necessary.Simmer for 15 to 30 minutes. When the sauce has finished simmering, taste again, and adjust any seasonings as necessary.
- While the tomato sauce is simmering, boil noodles until they are al dente, according to package directions. Spaghetti noodles usually need six to eight minutes.
- Drain pasta, reserving a cup of pasta water.*
- Mix spaghetti and half a cup of pasta water into the sauce. If necessary, add more pasta water to help the spaghetti slide through the sauce more easily.
- Mix in the Parmesan cheese and top with slivered basil. Serve additional Parmesan on the side at the table. Note: If some of you are vegan, simply leave out the Parmesan and offer at the table for the non-vegans.
Notes
Nutrition
Copyright © 2023 Jani H. Leuschel
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