Essential · 45 minutes · Serves 4
Spaghetti filetto with tomato, garlic, basil and butter
The same root as the Signature pasta with three-tomato filetto: dried pasta finished in a tomato sauce with garlic, basil and butter, glossy and clinging to the noodle. This version is the everyday dish of the Buenos Aires table, with a single canned tomato and twenty minutes of sauce.
The twist is the same one that holds up the Signature version: the pasta finishes cooking inside the sauce with a little of its water, and the cold butter goes in at the end. That way the starch binds tomato, oil and butter into a sauce that hugs the noodle instead of staying at the bottom of the plate.
Special equipment: wide pan or low pot that fits the pasta
Ingredients
Filetto sauce
- 800 g canned whole plum tomatoes
- 60 ml olive oil
- 4 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
- 1 small onion, finely chopped, optional
- 1 pinch of crushed chili flakes, optional
- 1 pinch of sugar, only if the tomato is acidic
- 8 fresh basil leaves
- Fine salt and black pepper
Pasta
- 400 g spaghetti or dried long noodles
- Plenty of salted water (10 g per liter)
- 30 g cold butter
Finishing
- 40 g grated Parmesan-style cheese
- Small basil leaves
- Olive oil
Method
Filetto sauce
- Tomatoes. Pour the tomatoes into a bowl and crush them by hand, leaving some pieces.
- Sofrito. Heat the oil in the wide pan over medium-low heat and, if using, cook the onion 6–8 minutes, until translucent. Add the garlic and chili and cook 1–2 minutes, until the garlic is fragrant and barely golden at the edges: if it burns, it turns bitter.
- Cooking. Add the tomatoes with their juice, salt and cook over medium heat 15–20 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the sauce thickens, looks glossy and the oil begins to separate at the edges. Taste and, if acidic, add the sugar. Turn off the heat and add the basil in pieces.
Pasta
- Cooking. Boil the salted water and cook the noodles 2 minutes less than the package indicates. Reserve a cup of cooking water and drain.
- Finishing in the sauce. Move the noodles to the pan with the sauce over medium heat, add 80–100 ml of cooking water and toss with tongs 1–2 minutes, until al dente and the sauce clings. Turn off the heat, add the cold butter and mix vigorously until it melts and the sauce shines; if it is dry, add a little more water.
Finishing
- At serving. Have the grated cheese, basil and oil.
The dish
Use hot deep plates. Take each portion with tongs, twirl it inside a ladle to form a nest and set it in the center of the plate. Pour over the sauce left in the pan and finish with the cheese, a few basil leaves and a drizzle of olive oil. Final look: a glossy red nest of noodles, the green of the basil and the white of the cheese.
Key points
- Brown the garlic only slightly, without burning it.
- Cook the sauce until the oil separates at the edges.
- Finish the pasta inside the sauce with its cooking water.
- Add the butter off the heat, cold.
Pairing
A Sangiovese or a young Barbera. Without alcohol, sparkling water with lemon.