Sunday Rigatoni

Ingredients

• 1/4 cupextra-virgin olive oil
• 1 largeyellow onion, finely diced
• 8 clovesgarlic, thinly sliced
• 1/4 cuptomato paste
• 2 canswhole peeled San Marzano tomatoes 28 oz each
• 1 cupwater
• 1 sprigfresh rosemary
• 4 sprigsfresh thyme
• 1 small handfulbasil leaves plus more to serve
• 1 smalldried chili optional
• 1 lbrigatoni
• to tastesea salt and black pepper
• to finishparmesan, finely grated

Method

1. 01

   Warm the olive oil in a heavy-bottomed pot over medium-low heat.

2. 02

   Add the onion with a generous pinch of salt and cook slowly until soft, sweet, and translucent — twelve to fifteen minutes. This is the foundation. Don't rush it; rushed onions taste raw under the tomato later.

3. 03

   Add the garlic and cook gently for two minutes more.

4. 04

   Stir in the tomato paste and cook, stirring, until it darkens a shade and starts to caramelize against the pot — this is the second flavor base, deepened by direct heat.

5. 05

   Crush the tomatoes through your hands directly into the pot — fingers, not a blender; the texture matters and the small irregular pieces hold sauce. Add the water, rosemary, thyme, basil, and the chili if you're using it.

6. 06

   Bring to a slow simmer. Cook, half-covered, on the lowest heat for at least an hour and a half — two if you have it. Stir occasionally. The sauce should reduce, sweeten, and turn deep brick red.

7. 07

   Taste. The sauce should be sweet, deep, and thick enough to coat a spoon. Season generously.

8. 08

   Bring a wide pot of generously salted water to a boil. Cook the rigatoni one minute shy of al dente.

9. 09

   Reserve a mug of pasta water. Drain the pasta and return it to its pot.

10. 10

    Ladle in enough sauce to dress the pasta, plus a splash of pasta water. Toss over low heat for a minute, until the sauce clings — this is the only step that turns sauce-on-pasta into pasta-and-sauce.