When July rolls around in St. Louis, it marks the beginning of one of my favorite seasons: Cherry tomato season. I wait for this season literally months out of the year because it also means I can make one of my favorite dishes, spaghetti with homemade tomato sauce.

“Why can’t you make tomato sauce the other 11 months of the year?” you might be asking. It’s a fair question. The only real answer is, I can, but it won’t taste as good as this sauce. When sun gold tomatoes are at their prime, I buy two pints at the farmers’ market. I bring them home, and on Sunday night, I sauté some garlic, add the tomatoes, put a generous handful of salt and some grinds of black pepper in the pot, and then I let it simmer for about 20 minutes. That’s it.

Despite that deceptively simple formula, the recipe yields a sauce that’s fragrant, satisfying, and delicious. Honestly, my apartment smells better than an Italian restaurant right now. I’m not boasting- it’s just a fact.

Since I make this once a week during the summer and early fall, I also bring it into work once a week. This past week, I was sitting at the lunch table with two of my coworkers including my friend Debbi, a self-professed anti-cook who doesn’t make anything. “Can I have the recipe?” she asked. I thought she was joking, but something in her tone made me think she might actually be interested. So, I did what I only do for the top .001% of my associates: I wrote out the recipe by hand. My other coworker took a photo of the two handwritten sheets of paper and started a group text.

I honestly expected the story to end there, but then Debbi texted me later that night and said, “I made the sauce! Jeff said it was good.” I burst out laughing because I literally thought that was the last thing she was going to do. At the same time, I was flattered, because apparently my pasta looked good enough that afternoon for her to want to try it and share it with her husband.

Today, I followed up with her to make sure it was okay if I used her name in this post, and she said Jeff wanted to add that he thought it was a jarred sauce until today. If that isn’t a testimonial for making this sauce, I don’t know what is.

I’m including the recipe below so you can have it for quick meals on Sunday nights, or whenever you’re craving pasta. Feel free to tweak it with different herbs or add-ins. I like a good, simple sauce, but you can get creative with what you mix in.

The only thing I’d advise is to use the best tomatoes you can find. They don’t need to be from the farmers’ market, but look for ones that seem ripe and have a little give. Watery, golf-ball-esque tomatoes are the enemy of this dish. Otherwise, it’s very forgiving.

Here’s a song to get you started on your tomato sauce journey. The music of my youth has been coming back to me in droves lately. I heard this one today and literally stopped in my tracks. All hail King Chingy.

The Best-and Easiest-Tomato Sauce

Ingredients

olive oil
3-4 cloves fresh garlic, minced
2 pints cherry tomatoes (I like sun gold; the orange ones)
salt and black pepper to taste
fresh basil leaves
spaghetti (I like fresh noodles; dried is also great)
freshly grated Parmesan cheese for serving

Directions

Heat a generous glug of olive oil in a large skillet (a wok, even) over medium high heat. When it’s hot but not too hot, add the minced garlic. Fry the garlic for a couple minutes until it’s light brown. Throw in the cherry tomatoes and sprinkle on a generous helping of Kosher salt. Add some black pepper. Mix it all together quickly with a wooden spoon, put the lid on the skillet, and turn down the heat down to low. Simmer the sauce for about 20 minutes, taking off the lid to smush down the tomatoes occasionally with a wooden spoon, or any sturdy spoon you have around. Right before the sauce is done simmering, add some fresh basil leaves and put the lid back on.

Meanwhile, boil your noodles. When they’re done, reserve about 1/2 cup of the pasta cooking water. Drain the noodles. Turn off the heat under the sauce, remove the lid, and add the noodles directly to the skillet with a little reserved cooking water. Mix with two spoons or some tongs. Serve the pasta in shallow bowls with plenty of sauce and some freshly grated Parm (I usually start with a handful). Enjoy!