WHAT’S COOKING: Spaghetti and meatballs with sugo al pomodoro (Italian tomato sauce)

Soup-up an old Italian-American classic by serving spaghetti and meatballs with sugo al pomodoro, the authentic yet very simple Italian tomato sauce.

The first film I ever saw – or the first I remember seeing – was Disney’s Lady and the Tramp, and I’ve never forgotten the scene in which Lady and Tramp sort-of-accidentally kiss in Tony’s Restaurant. Is this where my love of cuisine in popular culture was kindled? Could well be.

The fictional animated canine pair are eating a single strand of spaghetti over a plate of spaghetti and meatballs, the Italian-American classic family supper. Restaurateur Tony (voiced by George Givot) sings Bella Notte, while the world melted at the paws of two animated dogs.

Disney released the film in 1955, the year I was born, so it must have been a well-worn classic by the time I was old enough to see and remember it. I watched it again not long ago with my grandkids, and so much was amazingly familiar. Some things stay with us.

Spotting a pack of pre-made meatballs at my local store this week, while on the prowl for recipe ideas, the film, the scene and the meal came to mind, so I popped it in the basket and headed home, determined to make good old spaghetti and meatballs.

But I also determined to make a proper Italian tomato sauce for it, sugo al pomodoro. Not pomodoro al sugo, as might sound likely to be right: sugo comes first.

Ever eaten pasta only with grated cheese? With the cheese melting into the pasta as they almost become one? It’s a wonderful thing, the texture, the taste, and the simplicity of it. In old Naples, this was how pasta was eaten, until some street vendors started adding a simple tomato sauce to their pasta along with cheese.

Italians had been suspicious of tomatoes since their introduction to the country in the 1500s and, since Italians take things nice and easy, it took forever for the strange foreign red orbs to be assimilated into their cuisine. Ultimately, of course, their absorption of the humble tomato came to epitomise the phrase “making it your own”.

I decided I would simply pan fry the little beef meatballs I had bought in a little olive oil with garlic, season them with salt and black pepper, and throw some dried Italian herbs in at the end. (There’s a recipe of mine below if you’d rather make your own meatballs, but those I bought, which were from Checkers, were really good.) All they needed was to be rolled around in the oil and garlic on a moderate heat until golden and cooked through.

Get hold of some cans of San Marzano Italian tomatoes if you can, but don’t be shy to use what you can get or afford. It’s what happens on the stove, in the pot, that will make this sauce special.

(Or use this meatballs recipe to make your own, but make 16 meatballs since the quantity of mince is greater)

2 x 400g cans of Italian chopped tomatoes (or 800g San Marzano tomatoes, chopped)

1 x 250g packet of decent quality spaghetti, boiled until al dente and drained

Plunge the pasta into a pot of rapidly boiling, lightly salted water. Cook until al dente, then tip into a colander over the sink. Shake the colander a few times, then drizzle in a little olive oil.