Gigli Pasta (Campanelle)

Course Main Course

Cuisine Italian

Prep Time 5

Cook Time 13

Total Time 18

Servings

Calories 466

Author Christina Conte

A simple gigli pasta recipe made with tomato sauce.

Ingredients

1 lb gigli pasta (look for 100% durum wheat semolina)
4 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil (good quality, from a single source (like California, Italy, Greece or Spain)
3 cloves fresh garlic (do not use garlic from a jar, dried or garlic salt)
1 Tbsp fresh Italian parsley (finely chopped, or ½ tsp dried)
28 oz whole tomatoes (in jar or can, from Italy, preferably)
1 ½ tsp sea salt (or Diamond crystal Kosher salt)
5 leaves basil (preferably fresh, otherwise use ½ tsp dried basil or frozen basil)

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

Cook the Gigli Pasta

Bring a large pot of salted water to a rolling boil. Add the gigli pasta and cook as directed on the package. Meanwhile...

Make the Tomato Sauce

Pour the oil into a large sauté pan over medium high heat.
Crush the garlic and add it to the oil. Sauté the garlic until it just starts to brown, then add the chopped parsley. You can add the parsley stems, but remove them later. Turn the heat up so the pan is very hot.
If you prefer a smooth sauce, use an immersion blender or blender to purée the tomatoes before adding them to the pan.
Add the tomatoes and be ready with the lid as it may squirt as you add them. Stir quickly, and keep simmering briskly with the lid removed. Add salt and stir often. This sauce will most likely be ready before the pasta has finished cooking.
When the sauce has thickened, taste for salt and pepper and add torn fresh basil leaves and remove from heat.

Serve the Gigli Pasta

When the pasta is almost al dente, drain it by using a colander (save a cup of pasta water first), or by scooping it out with a pasta skimmer. and placing directly into the sauce in the pan. Mix the sauce and pasta together until the pasta is well coated in the tomato sauce, adding some of the reserved pasta water if it’s too dry.
You can put the pan over the heat and add more water to finish cooking the pasta if it’s not quite ready. This ensures the flavor of the sauce goes into the pasta.
Dish into bowls and serve right away.

Notes

Use 100% durum wheat semolina pasta for best results
Whole plum tomatoes from Italy or fresh, organic tomatoes work best.
If the sauce doesn't taste good, it probably needs more salt (or you used inferior quality tomatoes/ingredients.)
Top quality extra virgin olive oil and salt are very important.

Nutrition

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