Pasta with tomato sauce (Μακαρόνια με σάλτσα ντομάτας)

Pasta with tomato sauce (Μακαρόνια με σάλτσα ντομάτας)

Pasta cooked in a simple tomato sauce is the easiest Greek meal!

This is about as great as one pot meal can be.  First of all, it includes pasta.  Usually, that would be enough to win us over, but this dish has a few other things going for it too.  In order to make this easy, quick and thoroughly satisfying recipe, all you need are a few ingredients that you likely hopefully already have in your pantry.  If you don’t have these things in your pantry, we suggest it’s time to do a bit of shopping.  Before you go…you may want to consult this 🙂 .

Pasta with tomato sauce (Μακαρόνια με σάλτσα ντομάτας)

All kidding aside (we’re not really kidding), this is a favourite dish of our parents. They usually make this simple pasta meal at least once a week for themselves, and occasionally for the rest of us when we go visiting.  When we were Mia Kouppa-ing with them, in order to capture the actual recipe, we asked why they don’t make this for us more often.  They shrugged and said that this was too simple for company (suddenly we’re company!?).  Then they admitted that they prefer to make more elaborate meals when they have us over for supper because easy meals such as this one, they figure we can easily make on our own.  Well, now that we have the actual recipe, we can…and so can you!

Helpful hints

Simple ingredients required means quality ingredients needed.  Our parents use their homemade tomato sauce in this recipe, and you can do so as well by finding the recipe here.  If you don’t want to make their homemade tomato sauce, or if you have made it but already used it all by making their spaghetti and meat sauce or fasolatha with tomato, then you could just use a good quality bottled tomato juice.

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Unlike the pasta with tomato sauce and feta which we have previously posted, in this recipe, the pasta actually cooks in the tomato sauce.  This creates a rich and creamy meal, as the starch of the pasta remains in the cooking liquid (which is essentially, the sauce).

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Keep an eye on the liquid as you are cooking your pasta.  Depending upon the pasta brand that you use, you may need to add more water in order for your pasta to cook thoroughly.

You may think that the addition of cinnamon in a savoury dish is bizarre.  Our parents often add cinnamon to non-desserts, such as their youvetsi with chicken. The use of cinnamon in savoury meals is definitely something you should try, unless of course, you hate cinnamon, in which case, skip it.

If you like, you can sprinkle a nice bit of mizithra or parmesan cheese on top of this spaghetti.  We sometimes do, but if we don’t, this ends up being a lovely lenten (as well as vegan) option.

Pasta with tomato sauce (Μακαρόνια με σάλτσα ντομάτας)

Looking for some more quick pasta dishes? Try these:

Spaghetti with olive oil and mizithra

Pasta with tomato sauce and feta

Pasta topped with fried egg

Pasta with tomato sauce (Μακαρόνια με σάλτσα ντομάτας)

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Pasta cooked in a simple tomato sauce is the easiest Greek meal!

Pasta with tomato sauce

Pasta cooked in a simple tomato sauce is the easiest Greek meal!
5 from 2 votes
Print Pin Rate
Course: Main Course
Cuisine: Greek
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 20 minutes
Total Time: 30 minutes
Servings: 4 people
Author: Mia Kouppa

Equipment

  • 1 large sauce pot

Ingredients

  • 1 medium onion, diced
  • 1/3 cup (80 mL) olive oil
  • 1 cup (250 mL) tomato sauce, or tomato juice
  • 7 cups (56 ounces) water
  • 500 grams spaghetti
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground pepper
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Instructions

  • In a large pot, saute the onion in the olive oil for about 5 minutes.
    1 medium onion, diced, 1/3 cup (80 mL) olive oil
  • Add the tomato sauce and the water and bring to a boil.
    1 cup (250 mL) tomato sauce, or tomato juice, 7 cups (56 ounces) water
  • Add the pasta, the salt, pepper and cinnamon.  Cook, uncovered, over medium heat until the pasta is cooked well and the sauce has thickened (about 10-15 minutes).  The longer it cooks, the thicker it will get.  Don’t forget to stir, to avoid having the pasta sticking to the bottom of the pot.
    500 grams spaghetti, 1 teaspoon salt, 1/2 teaspoon ground pepper, 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • Enjoy!

Thanks for sharing!

7 Comments

  1. Lovely pasta, so easy to prepare a delicious meal !

    1. miakouppa says:

      Thanks Megala! Definitely a breeze to get on the table 🙂

  2. sugarlovespices says:

    This time of the year that I’m in Rome at my parents’, we have pasta every single day. In Canada, with my husband we took it down to 2, sometimes 3 times, but I miss it. This pasta looks yummy. Until the onion sauteing in the pot with olive oil and the addition of the homemade tomato sauce it seemed very similar to how we make it, but then cooking it in the sauce is something I have never experienced but would love to try. Including the cinnamon in the sauce. P.s. My dad cuts the onion (and other vegetables) in the exact same way and I’m always scared he might cut his palm that way 😉 .

    1. miakouppa says:

      We hope you do try cooking the pasta in the sauce…something wonderful happens there! As for your Italian (presuming) dad cutting vegetables like our dad…hilarious! … and yes…horrifying! Let’s hope for many more years of safe meal prep for both of our dads 🙂

  3. Had this for supper yesterday. A simple but tasty recipe – I would make this again since it is fast to prepare.

    1. miakouppa says:

      Super Marina! Glad you liked it 🙂 And we agree…this is absolutely a great dish to make when you need something quick, easy, but delicious 🙂 Thanks so much for your comment!

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