Place the garlic and peperoncino into a small pot. Cover generously with a layer of olive oil and turn heat to low. Cook the garlic and peperoncino until right when the garlic starts to turn golden. Usually 2 minutes. Remove from heat.

Chop the cherry tomatoes into quarters.

Turn pot heat to medium and add cherry tomatoes. Stir and cover. Cook for 18 minutes, stirring every 3 to 5 minutes.

Bring a large pot of water to boil.

Add the basil to the tomato sauce. Also add 1 pinch of salt. Cover and continue to cook for 2 minutes. Remove the sauce from heat.

Use an immersion blender to finely blend the sauce. Blend until smooth as canned tomato soup.

Note: You can leave the sauce in the pot or transfer to a deep bowl if you’re concerned about making a mess.

Generously salt pasta water, then add pasta. Cook until 3 minutes before ‘al dente’ per package description. Reserve 1 to 2 cups pasta water.

Note: Pasta water should taste like the sea.

Add sauce to a large pan and place on low heat while waiting for pasta to cook. Cut the heat if it starts to boil.

1 minute before adding pasta, add 1 ladle of pasta water to sauce. Turn heat to medium then high. The sauce should begin to boil.

Add the pasta to the sauce, stirring continuously. Add pasta water 1/2 ladle at a time as the pasta continues to cook and dry out. Cook for the remaining 2 to 3 minutes.

Remove from heat then add parmigiano reggiano. Stir to incorporate.

Plate and serve immediately. Don’t forget to finish with a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil!