Pasta and Light Tomato Sauce

I had no idea what to call this. But it's a take on one of Lidia B's pasta dishes and became our favorite pasta dish this summer. Paddy's favorite dinner is pasta and red sauce but sometimes that red sauce gets a little heavy and hot in the summer. So, I lightened it up with some fresh tomatoes instead. This is incredibly easy and it's done in the time that it takes to boil the pasta - a great go-to!

Handful of spaghetti, linguini, angel hair
Olive oil
2 cloves of garlic, sliced
1-2 tsp of crushed red pepper
4 medium tomatoes, diced (5 or 6 romas) - roma tomatoes work best but any tomato will do!
1 heaping tablespoon of capers (optional but good!)
1/4 cup of black olives if you have them (cured, black olives the best)
Fresh basil
Shredded asiago, romano or parmesan

1. Boil the water with a good bit of salt. Throw in the pasta.

2. In a large saucepan, heat enough olive oil to cover the pan (2 tbsp -ish) on medium.

3. Throw in the garlic and crushed red pepper. Let it simmer for a minute but don't let the garlic burn.

4. Add the diced tomatoes and their juice and the capers and olives. Add a pinch of salt, if you're using olives and capers, you won't need too much.

5. Turn the heat up to medium high and bring to a simmer. Simmer until the tomatoes get nice and soft (about the time it will take to cook the pasta). Add 1/4 cup of pasta water as the sauce cooks down - you'll probably need to do this about twice.

6. Using tongs, take the spaghetti out of the water - you'll want a little bit of the water so no need to strain. Put the pasta in the pan and mix together with the sauce.

7. Top with chopped basil and cheese.