Why You Should Be Making Your Spaghetti Sauce in the Oven

A classic Italian red sauce is slowly simmered and often cooked all day. And while that is undeniably delicious, sometimes you just don't have eight hours to dedicate to dinner. In doing some research about Italian food history, I read about the tradition of making pasta sauce and how that looked before commercial stoves. 

For some Italians, especially those in the south around Naples, where cucina povera, or "poor kitchen," was the food tradition, this meant cooking sauce in what was basically a big hearth or stone oven of sorts. This led me to accounts of what you and I would probably consider "baked" pasta sauce. Sure, many cooked it in a pot over an open flame, more similar to our modern gas stoves, but others used embers or enclosed containers to cook the sauce.

This recipe is a divergence from the traditional sauce procedure and is certainly different from how my ancestors made their pasta in a hearth. However, it's a fun connection to the food history I love and a sneaky shortcut to getting that all-day simmered flavor in about 45 minutes. The result is not exactly like the flavor and texture of an all-day sauce, but baking your tomatoes heavily reduces them and gives an ultra-concentrated flavor and savory jammy consistency in a fraction of the time.

In a glaring departure from southern Italian cooking tradition, I include butter in this sauce. And while certainly not traditional, it's the secret ingredient. In the oven, the butter melts, the milk solids separate, and they begin to brown over time. This gives the sauce an incredibly toasty depth that does a lot of heavy lifting when it comes to developing that long-cooked flavor. Just don't tell my Nonna!

How to Make Spaghetti Sauce in the Oven

Ingredients:

1 (28-ounce) can of crushed tomatoes

3 cloves of garlic, crushed

1 large sprig of basil

4 tablespoons of butter, cubed

Salt and pepper to taste

Pinch of chili flakes or small scoop of Calabrian chili paste

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
2. In a large glass baking dish, combine tomatoes, garlic, basil, butter, salt, pepper, and chili. Stir to combine.
3. Bake uncovered for 45 minutes, stirring halfway through to scrape down the sides. Remove basil before serving.
4. To serve: boil 8 oz pasta according to package directions, reserving ½ cup pasta water. In a large pot, combine pasta and sauce, making sure to scrape out every last browed bit from the sides of the baking dish. Add a splash of pasta water and toss vigorously, adding more pasta water as needed to achieve a silky consistency that coats the pasta without being overly runny. Top with grated parmesan or pecorino cheese, and enjoy!

Related:

• The Simple Trick to Making the Perfect One-Pot Spaghetti
• How to Make Rome's Most Famous Pasta Dishes
• Marinara vs. Pasta Sauce: What's the Difference?