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SubscribeMonday, December 28, 2009
Scarpetta’s Spaghetti with Fresh Tomato Sauce and Garlic Basil Oil
Scarpetta in New York City is most famous for its Spaghetti with Tomato and Basil.
People pay $24 for a serving.
Yes, that’s right: twenty-four dollars.
And we’re not talking about the family-style mound you’d find in a sticky-floored Italian joint. This is one of those fancy-restaurant, daintily plated serving sizes. If you twirl your fork three times, you’d get it all. Don’t believe me?
But people love it. Although I haven’t been to the restaurant myself, I’ve read the endless rave reviews and since there were too many variations for the recipe online, I just had to call the restaurant directly for the recipe.
And the secret to their famous pasta its simplicity.
Oh, and butter.
To make Scarpetta’s Spaghetti with Fresh Tomato Sauce and Garlic Basil Oil, you’ll first work the tomato. Cut each tomato in half and scoop out the seeds with your fingers. You can use plum tomatoes or regular tomatoes, whichever is freshest. You want a smooth, intensely flavored sauce…and watery seeds don’t belong.
The Garlic Basil Oil has just a few ingredients – fresh basil, sliced garlic and chili flakes.
Infuse the ingredients in hot olive oil and let sit on stove for 20 minutes or more: 10 minutes on low-low-low heat and then 10 minutes off the heat. The longer you let it steep, the more flavorful the oil will be. You won’t use all of the oil – strain, discard the solids and refrigerate for a few days and use in other recipes. Do not store the garlic in oil at room temperature.
Just before serving, drizzle or toss the pasta with the Garlic Basil Oil.
***
Scarpetta’s Spaghetti with Fresh Tomato Sauce and Garlic Basil Oil Recipe
adapted from Scott Conant and Scarpetta
Serves 4
Chef Conant likes to use 20 ripe plum tomatoes (no canned). My adaptation includes canned tomatoes as well because I find it works better. Tomatoes used for canning are picked at the peak of ripeness, and many times the fresh tomatoes I find at the market are just so-so. Feel free to use all fresh, all canned or a combination. Don’t expect the usual sauce-heavy spaghetti. Conant’s recipe is light; the barely there sauce combined with the basil-garlic oil is so full of intense flavors, you don’t need to drown your pasta.
4 ripe organic tomatoes (preferably plum tomatoes)
One 12-ounce can of San Marzano or organic whole tomatoes
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
Pinch of crushed red chili pepper flakes
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 ounce freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano (about 1/2 cup)
6 to 8 fresh basil leaves, well washed and dried, stacked and rolled into a cylinder and sliced thinly crosswise into a chiffonade
1 pound spaghetti, either high-quality dry or homemade
For the Basil-Garlic Oil:
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
6-8 whole cloves garlic
10 whole fresh basil leaves
Generous pinch crushed red chili pepper flakes
1. Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Have a large bowl of ice water nearby. Cut a small X on the bottom of each tomato. Ease the tomatoes into the pot and boil for about 15 seconds, then promptly move them to the waiting ice water. (Continue with the remaining tomatoes.) Pull off the skin with the tip of a paring knife. If the skin sticks, try a vegetable peeler using a gentle sawing motion. Cut the tomatoes in half and use your finger to flick out the seeds.
2. In a wide pan, heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil over medium-high heat until quite hot. Add the fresh and canned tomatoes, red pepper flakes, and season lightly with the salt and pepper. (I always start with a light hand with the salt and pepper because as the tomatoes reduce, the salt will become concentrated.) Let the tomatoes cook for a few minutes to soften. Then, using a potato masher, chop the tomatoes finely. Cook the tomatoes for 20 to 25 minutes, until the tomatoes are tender and the sauce has thickened. (You can make the sauce, which yields about 2-3 cups, ahead of time. Refrigerate it for up to two days or freeze it for longer storage.)
3. While the tomatoes are cooking, make the basil-garlic oil. Heat a small saucepan over low heat with 1/4 cup olive oil, garlic cloves, basil leaves and pepper flakes. Keep the heat on low to allow the ingredients to warm slowly and release their flavors. When the garlic is lightly browned, turn heat off and let cool for 10 minutes. The longer you let the oil sit, the more infused the oil. Strain the oil, discarding the solids.
4. To cook the spaghetti, bring a large pot of amply salted water to a boil. Cook the spaghetti until just shy of al dente and drain, reserve a little of the pasta cooking water.
5. Add the cooked pasta to the sauce and cook over medium-high heat, gently tossing the pasta and the sauce together with a couple of wooden spoons and a lot of exaggerated movement (you can even shake the pan) until the pasta is just tender and the sauce, if any oil had separated from it, now looks cohesive. (If the sauce seems too thick, add a little pasta cooking liquid to adjust it.) Remove the pan from the heat and toss the butter, basil and cheese with the pasta in the same manner (the pasta should take on an orange hue). Drizzle with just a bit of the basil-garlic oil on each plate (you might not use all of it).
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Oh my, sounds amazing! And even with butter, it’s not THAT bad for you…so maybe it’ll fit in with the post-holiday make-up-for-over-indulgence eating!
I think ABC/Good Morning America needs to take some photography lessons from you … their spaghetti photo looks gross!
Love me some garlic and basil though … Mmm.
Sounds great. I’ll have to try this out.
well i’m living in italy and as you can describe we can eat this yummy pasta every day
but we pay this 5-10€ per serving. absolutely it changes for the city you eat. but i’ve never seen a higher price for this. and also if you can find the recipe, i advice you to try spaghetti alle vongole ( pasta with clams). this is more tastier than it 
Ooo… The garlic basil oil!
Now, I know why some people’s pasta always taste so good.
It’s just like how mum has shallot oil in her kitchen for chinese food. Aha.. it clicks now.
Thanks!
Love the recipe – thanks – but I couldn’t in good conscience discard all that lovely, oily garlic. Do you think it would still have enough oomph left in it to make nice with some warm Italian bread?
SteamyKitchen replied: — December 28th, 2009 @ 12:54 pm
@Annie yes! you can save it, just refrig and use in few days.
awesome awesome, such a simplicity and yet taste so good!
OOOhhh lala that oil looks good. And the spaghetti? If people pay 24$ a plate for three bites…It got to be worth the time to make! It doesn’t look that unhealthy to me.
Wow, the garlic basil oil will make anything taste great! Love this simple but flavor packed recipe.
I’ve been to Scarpetta’s out in South Beach at the Fountainebleu. It WAS so yummy. Jury’s still out on if the cost was worth it though, but you know how cheap I am! [thank goodness for business trips]
Off to the store I go. I plan to double this recipe as I want to use the sauce for eggplant parmesan.
This looks fabulous, but totally not worth $24 a serving.
I always deseed my tomatoes before making sauce. It makes a world of difference!
I might need ot make that garlic basil oil for my next batch of pasta. It looks divine.
i cannot wait to try this
You are making me now want to make my own spaghetti sauce now
. Usually I just jazz up jarred spaghetti sauce with veggies, meat, and extra basil but now I think I’ll follow this recipe and maybe even just use fresh tomatoes only, now that I know how simple this is.
Jaden, you are amazing. and I love all of your recipes. thank you for sharing, i plan on making this immediately if not sooner.
My wife and I got into the habit of making a spaghetti ‘sauce’ out of little more than fresh tomatoes, onions, and some garlic from our local CSA. Can’t beat it for flavor, and this recipe kicks it up a notch with the basil oil. Yummy!
That is a bowl full of beauty!
I’ve been making a similar spaghetti…but with a bit more of butter and it’s sort of surprising but it’s my daughter’s absolute favorite. Easiest I’ve ever made and her favorite? So now have to try this with the addition of basil; might be my favorite!
Have you ever tried Marcella Hazan’s sauce? It is simply OUT OF THIS WORLD!! And so simple to boot! It’s one can of diced tomatoes (I use the one with basil and garlic) and then you simmer with 1 onion (peeled and cut in 1/2) and a stick of butter. No need to stir or do anything… just simmer on low. It is amazingly delectable!
Oh, I forgot.. discard the onion after it’s done, and that was the large 28 oz (I think it’s that many oz’s) of tomatoes.
Wow. I made this last night, very easy and tasty. I used more than a pinch of red pepper, but I like a little more heat. Shame of it was that even though I picked through all the tomatoes at my Kroger, they weren’t as flavorful as I hoped for. The organic ones were bundled in 4-pack trays, but they didn’t look as ripe either. I think I will try it next time for a light lunch with just canned tomatoes. The basil-garlic oil was great on the pasta and even a little drizzle on the eggplant was great. I didn’t make fresh pasta, but used Ronzoni dried instead. This maybe my summer staple, along with bruschetta. Now that’s eating your veggies.
Scoop out the seeds!?!?!?! The goop surrounding the seeds is where all the flavor is. If you ever doubt it, cut a tomato in half, take the seeds out of one half, and eat them both.
No wonder it’s so good! That infused oil would make ANYTHING sublime. Can’t wait to get home and try this–thanks for making that phone call.
Oh, butter is always the secret. This looks wonderful! Thanks for sharing the recipe. That’s one of the reasons I love your blog – you make amazing food accessible. Best wishes for a wonderful 2010!
the secret to life is butter so they say… and i may add garlic and olive oil…then hmmm life is good!
happy new year jaden!
24 dollars?! Better have gold in it… LOL
Great post, Jaden, and lovely photos!
Wishing you and your family a Happy New Year from up North!
Now that is a luscious bowl of pasta! Wish you and your family a fantastic New Year, Jaden!
jaden
happy new year
That looks DELICIOUS! Your photos are amazing. I end up leaving nose prints on my monitor.
That looks DELICIOUS! Your photos are amazing. I end up leaving nose prints on my monitor.
(Gave the wrong link in my last comment but don’t see how to delete it….sorry for the duplicate.)
Delizioso! Love this. The infused oil is brilliant in this dish!
Hello, I could taste it from here! Yum…. Thanks for sharing.
My husband and I have made this twice. It is wonderful! The first time it was exactly like the recipe. The second attempt my husband suggested adding some ground creole sausage. I was so busy with the sausage that I forgot the basil oil — it was still fabulous! A total keeper.
I agree with Rachelle (12.28.09)– the GMA photo is downright unappetizing! Your photos look fantastic, as usual. Wish I’d found this recipe before I made my farfalle with smoky tomato sauce tonight.
very cool recipe! I’m going to have to try it one of these days. I love a simple pasta recipe, as I just posted a recipe for penne arrabiata on my blog. wonderful photos
Yummy! I made this last night but stuck to the original recipe and tweaked one or two things around like using angel hair pasta and chopping the tomatoes (after taking out seeds and skin) and it was soooo good! I roasted some chicken with basil and cut that and put on top of pasta.
I just ate a full meal but, thanks to your gorgeous photo, you’ve got me hungry this dish. I work in an Italian Restaurant and get my fill of pasta, but this recipe has me thinking it’s time to whip this number up pronto. Yum!
Question- If you used the canned whole tomatoes like you suggested as a possibility as well, do you cut the tomatoes and take the seeds out or throw in the entire can when the pan is hot? Did half canned half fresh and I have the seeds all over the place.
SteamyKitchen replied: — January 7th, 2010 @ 9:14 am
@Nancy – I used the entire can WITHOUT scooping out the seeds. I’ve also done the recipe with a can of crushed tomatoes too. Both are fine.
i do a similar recipe and i actually made it last night. i used canned whole or crushed tomatoes and agree that you can rarely find a nice fresh one these days. i sautee a small onion, small dice in olive oil, add garlic, crushed red pepper, salt, pepper, the tomatoes with the seeds and the juice from the can. i use my emersion blender to puree it, leaving a little texture in it. i reduce it down then adjust seasoning, add fresh or dried basil to taste and serve over pasta that i’ve tossed in a mix of butter and olive oil.. so I’ll have to try that infused oil for sure! thanks jaden! as always you make me hungry!
Because we cannot really get good tomatoes this time of year in England, so i roasted the plum tomatoes in the oven for 30 minutes on 180 degrees to intensify the flavor then added them to the canned chooped tomatoes and the rest of the ingredients, plus a small pinch of sugar and cooked the sauce till it was nice and thick, P.S i think roasting the tomatoes in the oven made the sause even more intense in flavour IMO.
Amazing how some simple ingredients can equate to glorious.
Jaden,
This is the Italian equivalent of your noodles:
Garlic Scallion Noodles
and everything is better with butter!
YES~ everything better with buttah. ~j
I made this tonight for me and my husband. Pretty good! though wouldn’t pay $24.00 a serving for it. Hubby says good enough to make again.
Este plato tiene mi apellido “Scarpetta”… ¿Porqué se llama así?
SteamyKitchen replied: — January 19th, 2010 @ 4:02 pm
Scarpetta is the name of the restaurant that the chef works at http://www.scarpettanyc.com/
I just made this for dinner last night (with a few modifications, based on what I already had at home) http://iflipforfood.blogspot.com/2010/01/spaghetti-with-fresh-tomato-sauce-and.html, and it was really delicious and easy. Thanks for being such a great recipe sleuth!
I just made this for dinner last night (with a few modifications based on what I already had at home) and it was delicious and very easy to make. http://iflipforfood.blogspot.com/2010/01/spaghetti-with-fresh-tomato-sauce-and.html Thanks for being such a good recipe sleuth!
I made this for dinner tonight and it was just amazing. I’m 20 weeks pregnant and have been craving spaghetti with tomato sauce like it’s going out of style. This is the first time that my craving has been fulfilled. I have a feeling I’ll be making this a few more times before this baby is born. Thanks for another great dinner!
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