This is a quick, light, from scratch sauce that is easy to throw together on busy nights, about the same amount of time it takes to hear a premade jar of sauce. It has a simple but wonderful flavor. The primary ingredient is just fresh, ripe tomatoes.

The prep involves cutting tomatoes into large chunks, mincing garlic, and cooking any type of preferred pasta. I always add salt to the water during cooking because the pasta absorbs some of the salt. You will end up with flavor in every part of your dish rather than just the sauce. It’s always tasted better to me!

After cooking my pasta, reserving some salted pasta water, and draining, I heated some oil in my pasta pot. I used a little more oil than you would generally use to saute vegetables because it is meant to coat the pasta and become part of the sauce. I threw in my chunks of tomato and cooked for a few minutes, then I added the minced garlic and some dried basil, oregano, and black pepper. Fresh herbs would be delicious as well though I tend to use those more often during the summer months.

After it had cooked down, I added my reserved pasta water and about 1 teaspoon of salt. If you have forgotten to save some, you can use regular water or stock. The pasta water helps the sauce cling to the pasta and adds some salt as well. If you use regular water, simply tast and add additional salt if needed after cooking. Your tomatoes should soften and start to break apart. You will see the liquid thicken very slightly but this is a thin sauce.

Taste your sauce, preferably on a piece of cooked pasta, and add salt if needed. You have the choice of spooning this over your plated pasta or tossing the pasta into the sauce before serving.

I love the fresh, light, garlicky taste of this sauce. And of course, I love how fast it is to make. This recipe is also a fun one to experiment with and see just how easy it is to tailor your foods to meet your personal preferences and dietary needs. Add more garlic, take it out entirely, add onions and bell peppers, throw in some prepared cannellini beans, change up your herbs, add some spice… there is so much you can do and before you know it, you don’t even need to use recipes anymore. Anything you want, you can make! Happy cooking, have fun experimenting.

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