How do you make spaghetti sauce?
And if you don’t want to go tomato sauce use 2/3 cup olive oil, freshly squeezed lemon juice (1 or 2 lemons depending on how tart you like things), lots of grated fresh parmesan and some fresh rosemary, salt and (black and/or red) pepper and whirl it all together, then toss w/pasta and top with more cheeze (if you like). Nummy.
Basically what equipoise and other have mentioned, but a couple of notes: When you can get good flavorful tomatoes, use them instead; just use a regular old cheese grater with largish holes (grating into a large bowl), cut the tomatoes in half and grate them down ’til you’re just left hold the skins. Yes, this adds another level of complexity, but to me it’s actually fun to grate the tomatoes. Also, if you are using parmesan/regatto on top of your pasta, it’s very worthwhile to seek out the good stuff, freshly grated to order (or you grate it yourself) instead of the prepackaged things from the supermarket. Huge difference. For me keeping the whole thing as simple as possible (fresh basil – yes, but go easy unless you really want a strong basil flavor), but with these above two techniques really makes a great sauce.
Just a note on dried herbs vs. fresh. I challenge the notion that dried herbs are just “bad” across the board. There are some herbs that probably shouldn’t be dried (basil, yes), and fresh herbs certainly are much brighter, but drying gives some heartier herbs, particularly oregano, a nice mellow flavor that works well in long-cooked stews and sauces. Drying totally changes the character of herbs, and there are some good flavor possibilities in there. Very important though – just because they’re dried doesn’t mean that they last forever. There is such a thing as “fresh dried herbs”. Generally, dried herbs are good for no longer than 3-6 months. Also, for fresh herbs, there’s nothing wrong with adding them in batches at different times during the cooking. You’ll layer the flavors nicely that way.
At a minimum you have to have garlic, onion, oregano, salt, and oil. Your sauce will be a lot better with some basil, a bay leaf and mushrooms. I like to toss in a dash of white pepper, thyme, and rosemary, too. A diced potato will thicken it and complexify the flavor. Sauteed shallots: yum. If you have the time, let it reduce to the right thickness by simmering. If you don’t have time, strain some of the water when you open the can, or add tomato paste to thicken.
