Tomato Agar Spaghetti

The tomato spaghetto is a 2 meter (6 feet) spaghetto or noodle made of jellified tomato soup using agar agar as the jellifying agent. It is very easy to make and it only requires a syringe, silicone tubes and agar agar (included in the Premium and Ultimate Molecular Gastronomy Kits). The agar agar spaghetti technique was created by Ferran Adria and El Bulli team.

If you prefer, you can also use your favorite tomato soup but just make sure you make it a little stronger and condiment it really well so your spaghetti have a good flavor. The quantities in this recipe will make 3 or 4 2m spaghetti.

Tomato Soup Ingredients

- 1 3/4 cups of diced tomatoes

- 1 small carrot, chopped

- ½ celery stalk, chopped

- 1 crushed garlic clove

- 1 tbsp tomato paste

- Fresh basil and parsley

- 1 1/2 cups of chicken stock

- Salt and pepper

Tomato Spaghetto Ingredients

- 150 g (5.3 oz) Filtered tomato soup

- 2.4 g Agar Agar

Preparation

Start by preparing the tomato soup using this recipe or your favorite one.  If you have a Thermomix, use it for this recipe. First, its high speed blending capabilities will result in a very smooth liquid. Second, you can then dissolve the agar agar by heating the liquid in the Thermomix. And finally, you can mantain the temperature of the preparation high enough so it doesn't solidify while you are filling silicone tubes.

1- Put all the soup ingredients in a pot to boil and when it starts to boil lower the heat and let it simmer for 25 min.

2- Wait until it cools and blend all the ingredients to obtain a very smooth puree. Try it and add salt and pepper to taste. Add a little more than you would normally do or the spaghetti are going to be too bland. To intensify the flavor of the liquid in the puree, keep it in the fridge 12 hours before proceeding.

3- Pass the tomato soup through a superbag or a sieve lined with cheesecloth and remove all the liquid in the soup.

4- Get the silicone tubes of 0.5 cm in diameter and 2 m long and 1 syringe with a nozzle 0.3 cm in diameter ready. Read Agar Agar Spaghetti if this is your first time making agar agar spaghetti.

5- Put the filtered tomato soup in a saucepan, dissolve the agar agar and bring it to the boil, stirring constantly with a beater. If using a Thermomix, just set the temperature to "varoma". Take off the heat and skim to eliminate any impurities.  If using a Thermomix, reduce the temperature to 104°F/40°C to prevent it from solidifying while you fill the syringes and the tubes.

6- Fill the syringe and with it fill the tubes, which will have been rolled and secured with a little adhesive tape for greater comfort.

7- Submerge the full tubes in cold water so that the tomato soup sets in a few minutes.

8- With an empty syringe, inject air into the tube to obtain the spaghetto. This is probably the most difficult part of the recipe unless you have an ISI Whip with the Agar Spaghetti adaptor (read Agar Agar Spaghetti for tips and more information on the Agar Spaghetti Kit). The resulting spaghetti can be served hot or cold.

Serving Suggestions

- Serve tomato spaghetto coiled into a spiral with fresh mozzarella bocconcini, olive oil, pepper, sea salt and fresh basil leaf.

- Roll tomato spaghetto into a spiral and cut in slices like a cake.

- Serve with parmesan cheese and fried basil leaves.