If using homemade tomato sauce, prepare it ahead. I can recommend this for the best results.

Add some olive oil to your pan. If your tomato sauce is plain, add one whole crushed clove of garlic to the oil and allow it to infuse. We will simmer the sauce with the garlic and discard the garlic clove before plating. Depending on the flavor of your sauce, you can add a few basil leaves to season the tomato sauce. You can skip this step when having flavored homemade tomato sauce.

Cook your spaghetti to package instructions in generously salted boiling water. I’d recommend undercooking it and finishing the pasta in the tomato sauce. I am keeping my spaghetti a minute shy of al dente.

Combine the pasta and sauce well. If you need to thin the sauce, you can add a bit of the pasta water.

I plated the spaghetti al pomodoro by making beautiful nests using a ladle and tongs. I finished the dish by garnishing the pasta al pomodoro with fresh basil, extra-virgin olive oil, and high-quality black pepper.