Tomatoes with Spaghetti

A soup-thin tomato and stock base with short lengths of spaghetti dropped in at the end — closer to a light minestra than to a plated pasta. The proportions are liquid-heavy by design.

• White brothA pale unclouded stock, in a hotel kitchen usually veal or veal-and-chicken, simmered without browned bones or vegetables. A light chicken stock is the practical substitute; avoid dark beef stock, which will muddy both colour and flavour.
• PintTwo cups. The dish as written is one quart of liquid to one cup of cooked spaghetti, so expect a brothy result served in soup plates rather than a sauced pasta.
• Tomato sauceIn a hotel kitchen of this period this would have meant a made sauce, typically thickened and strained rather than a tinned pasta sauce. Passata thinned slightly, or a plain tomato sauce made with stock, keeps the balance intact.
• The pepperA full teaspoon of pepper to a quart of liquid is aggressive by modern taste. Start with a quarter teaspoon and correct at the end; the salt likewise depends entirely on how the broth was seasoned.
• Cooking the spaghettiBoil and drain it first, then cut into three-quarter-inch lengths. Undercook it by a minute or two, since it spends a further five minutes in the hot liquid and will keep absorbing.
• TossingThe instruction to toss matters more than it looks: short cut pasta sinks and catches on the pan bottom. Stir steadily rather than leaving it to sit.
• YieldAbout four servings as a first course. It does not hold well — the pasta keeps absorbing and the broth tightens, so it should go straight to the table.