Simple Tomato Sauce with Pasta

Photo by Katie Kay

Some of my favorite Italian dishes are some of the most simplistic ones with very few ingredients.  I love this sauce made of good quality canned tomatoes, garlic, and basil.  The first time I made it I served it with my own homemade pasta and it was restaurant-worthy.  Truly fabulous.  I bought bagged linguine noodles this time, and they looked like they might taste fresher than pasta in a box.  They were still excellent, even if they weren't homemade.
The sauce is lighter in color than I'm used to in spaghetti sauce, but the flavor is so much cleaner and the tomatoes, garlic, and basil are truly stand-alone flavors.
If you've never made something from my blog or eaten something from my table, you might doubt me.  And that's fine.  Everyone has their Gammy's spaghetti sauce recipe passed down from generations, or their favorite recipe from AllRecipes.com that has 4,567 reviews and 5 stars (and who can argue with that?)  
However, if you don't believe ME, you can believe the 30-40 people who came to my house earlier this year for a Spaghetti Cook-off.  We had somewhere between 9 and 12 entries, and this recipe (or a similar one) won 2nd place!
I can't confirm if the 2nd place recipe was exactly the same as this one, but our friend Greg is the one who won 2nd place.  He recommended a cookbook to me with a recipe that sounded to me like the same recipe he entered in the contest, and here it is!  Tastes the same to me!
In case you were curious, 1st place went to Matt's own creation.  It's funny, the 2 recipes were probably the most opposite.  Matt puts everything but the kitchen sink in every recipe he makes (you should see his chili) whereas this recipe has 6 simple ingredients.  Still, both were so good in their own way.
Give it a try.
Pasta and Simple Tomato Sauce
2 28oz cans whole tomatoes (I use San Marzano) 1 bulb fresh garlic cloves, peeled and pressed 3 Tbsp EVOO 4 Tbsp fresh basil leaves, chopped 1/2 tsp sugar salt to taste 1lb pasta of your choice
Bring water to boil for pasta, and prepare as directed.
Coarsely chop tomatoes and set aside.  
Stir 1 teaspoon of water into your pressed garlic, then heat EVOO and garlic in a skillet until fragrant.  Add tomatoes with juice and simmer about 10 minutes.  Add sugar, salt and basil.  Let simmer on low until pasta is ready.  Toss pasta with sauce and serve with parmesan cheese and garlic bread.
Source:  The Complete Book of Pasta and Noodles