Place everything into your pot: the pasta, onions, garlic, tomatoes, spinach, basil, salt, pepper and crushed red pepper flakes. Add in the olive oil and then add in the water, starting with 3 cups and adding more (1 cup at a time) as you need it. 4 1/2 cups of water seems to work for me! You want your pasta to be covered in water. Don't worry about covering the spinach and basil, they will wilt down and cook just fine.