Spaghetti and Sauce

When you don't know what to make and you're hungry now, one of the easiest and fastest dinners to make is spaghetti with red sauce. We love spaghetti around here! Making your own really tasty sauce is super easy. First, put a separate pan of water on to boil for your pasta.

The DishDiana: Tomato Sauce

1 large can crushed tomatoes (28 oz)

1 crushed tomato can of water

2-3 cloves fresh garlic, minced

2-4 TBLS sugar (I use sucanat)

basil - 10-15 leaves - fresh is best, chopped

oregano - teaspoon or so - again I like fresh, chopped

In a medium saucepan, add all ingredients. Heat it up and you're done. You can cook it all day, or just for a few minutes. As with many dishes, the longer you cook it, the better it tastes!

The Pasta

Pasta of your choice

Pan of boiling water

Once your water is boiling you can add your pasta. If you want it quick, use angel hair pasta. It cooks in about 3 minutes. Don't cook it longer or it will get mushy. Other pastas can take anywhere from 8-12 minutes and they are all good. Drain the pasta. Return it to the pan and add a few tablespoons of the sauce to keep it from sticking.

Serve it with grated parmesan. Again you can't beat fresh parmesan. You can buy a 5 oz. wedge of Frigo around here for about $2.50.

Notes: As with anything you make, there are all kinds of little tips and tricks you can do to change things up. I find it difficult sometimes to write about a recipe because all of these little things are going through my head. I'll try to hit the main ideas for you and if you have any questions, let me know. First of all, if you don't have fresh ingredients try it with what you have. You'll appreciate the difference more when you try it with fresh. It will still taste good! You could sauté the garlic before adding it to the sauce. It will soften the intensity. You can leave out the sugar if you cook it long enough. You add the sugar to reduce the acidity. Sometimes I'll cook my sauce for hours and I've actually cooked it for days. The sauce becomes deep red and thick. You do have to continue to add water. You can use oregano flakes, I just prefer it fresh. For the pasta, the directions say you can add oil and salt. I don't.

Garlic: Fresh garlic is better. The jarred garlic is okay, but it still doesn't hold a candle to fresh. If you need other reasons to go fresh, here they are. It's cheap. Maybe 30 or 40 cents a pod. No waste. You don't have to throw away a container. Also, you can grow your own too. Buy a pod and break up the cloves. Stick each clove in the ground with your thumb (rough side down). That's really cheap! And it's fun to watch. They will sprout before you know it.

Basil: You can't beat fresh basil. The difference is huge. I grow my own and it's super easy. Throw some seeds on loosened soil and cover them lightly with soil. You can also store the basil through the winter by mincing it with a little olive oil in a food processor, dividing it into ice cube trays, freezing it for a couple of hours and then store the basil cubes in a freezer container.

About Sucanat: This is cane sugar in it's less processed form. The name comes from SUgar CAne NATural. It is brown and still has molasses in it. I use it for everything that requires sugar. I buy mine online through Amazon.com. It costs between $2 and $3 per pound. You can also get it at Whole Foods, Market Street, Sprouts, Target, and I used to get it at Kroger. It's cheaper in bulk.

Enjoy!