I always wanted to learn how to make a good tomato sauce, because I love it with pasta. Before I knew how to do it, I used to buy it in supermarkets, but I really did not like it. Once I learned how to do it, I was surprised by its simplicity. Basically, you need pasta, olive oil, tomato, garlic and optionally basil. It actually took me a while to understand Italian cuisine rationale. If you think about it, pasta is made of flour and eggs, which make a complete meal. If you add tomato to pasta, it is like you had eaten bread, eggs and tomato. Remember, a good tomato sauce rhymes with simplicity.

Ingredients for 4 persons:

– 6 tomatoes
– 2-3 garlic cloves
– Basil
– Parmesan
– 2 tablespoons of olive oil
– 1/2 teaspoon sugar
– salt, pepper

Preparation:

– In a large pan, heat the olive oil over medium-high heat. Saute the garlic for 2-3 minutes (keep in mind that garlic does not like to be roasted or burnt out).
– Add the tomatoes cut into pieces.
– Add the sugar, salt and pepper (Sugar is to enhance tomato, especially during winter when tomatoes are not so sweet).

Cook around 10-15 minutes at low heat. Once tomatoes are soft, crunch them with a fork. The tomato sauce is now almost ready. Turn off the heat. In the pan, add the pasta that you separately cooked, and toss them in the sauce.

Add the parmesan, and 1 tablespoon of olive oil. If you have basil, add it at this stage (Basil has been cut into small slices). Toss the pasta in the pan until it becomes evenly covered by the sauce. Your pasta is ready!

Note: I strongly recommend to buy fresh parmesan cheese and then grate it your own with a shredder. It is easy and much better than already shredded parmesan.

Make sure you cook the pasta “al dente” (Pasta should not be too soft), because when you add them to the tomato sauce, they continue to cook in the pan.