A quick, easy, healthy, and light sauce that everyone will love.

Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 5 garlic cloves, sliced very thin
• 2 lbs. fresh, ripe plum tomatoes, peeled, seeded and thinly sliced (or use 3 cups of canned, whole tomatoes, with their juice, coarsely chopped)
• salt
• 1/4 cup fresh basil leaves, torn by hand into small pieces (about 1/2")
• pinch of red pepper flakes

Directions:

1. Put all but 1 TB of olive oil and all the garlic in a large skillet over a medium-high heat and cook until the garlic begins to sizzle, but doesn't brown.
2. Add the tomoatoes and cook over a medium-high heat until the tomatoes have reduced and spearated from the oil. This will be about 15 minutes depending upon your skillet size. Season with salt.
3. While the sauce is cooking bring 4 quarts of water to a boil in a large pot, add 1 tbs of salt, and drop in the pasta all at once, stirring until the pasta is submerged. If you have a smaller pot, you can use less than 4 quarts of water, but you must constantly stir the pasta for one minute.
4. When the sauce has reduced, add the torn basil leaves and the red pepper flakes. Cook for 1-2 minutes, then remove from the heat.
5. When the pasta is cooked al dente, drain and toss with the sauce in the skillet, adding the remaining tablespoon of olive oil.
6. Serve at once with fresh grated parmesan cheese.

Note: You can serve this sauce with spaghetti, spaghettini (thin spaghetti), or penne.

Paula Laurita
Italian Food Host

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