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1lb box or bag of pasta noodles, the type is really up to you. most are the same just made into different shapes.
4 cans of tomato sauce
1 can of tomato paste
1-2 bay leafs
Oregano
2 Tablespoons of Garlic powder or garlic salt
2 Table Spoons Onion powder
Salt & Pepper
A loaf of French bread
1/2 -3/4 a cup of butter (most sticks of butter have it marked off as to how much is a 1/4 of a cup of butter on the side.)
You can use all dry spices for these, they will last a long time too so you don't have to worry about them going bad. but if you want to use fresh garlic & onion, finally dice them first - food processors or choppers work very well for this. The onion you will probably want about 1/4 of a large onion, the garlic would be about 2 cloves, or if you buy the garlic in a jar, about 1 tablespoon of that.
In a large pot with a lid, put the tomato sauce & paste with 1 1/2 tablespoons of the garlic, (save the rest for the garlic bread.) 2 table spoons of onion powder, the bay leaf and a few dashes of salt & pepper. Stir together with a Mixing Spoon. (I suggest wood or plastic so it doesn't scrape up the bottom of your pot.) cover and let simmer for about 20 min, giving it a stir about half way through. if the sauce seems real thick add a 1/2 cup of water and stir.
Simmering is where you turn the heat down to a low setting if you have an electric stove. If you have a gas stove, look at the flame while turning it down and stop when the flame barely reaches the top of the burner where the flames come out.
Take another large pot and fill about half way with water add a dash of salt and allow to come to a boil. once the water is boiling, add pasta. if you get the long pasta some times it's easy to break in half or you can wait till the bottom half gets tender and starts to bend and push the rest down with a large mixing spoon. cook about 10 min then use a fork or a spoon and carefully lift a little bit of pasta out of the pan. Try a piece, it should be real soft to the bite, if it's a little tuff in the center this is what is called al dente, some people like it this way, if you don't, continue to cook for another 5 min, and repeat test taste.
This is also a good point to taste the sauce.
Cut the French bread into long sections (3-5 inches) then cut those sections in half long ways. Figure on 2 pieces per person. so do 4 sections, Spread butter on the bread slices, and sprinkle with garlic powder. Turn the oven on to broil. and place the bread on the tray. Check on the bread every few min. When it's starts to get brown on the edges you may want to move them around with a pair of tongs so they get browned evenly. make sure you don't over saturate the bread with butter, and don't have the broiler tray on the highest setting. after bread is toasted, remove and set on a plate.
Drain Pasta in a strainer, and put in a bowl. It's up to you if you want to put the sauce into a different bowl or put it right on top of the pasta. (I used to just put it on top, one less dish to wash later.)
