Yield: enough sauce for 8-10 ounces of pasta
How can I resist a recipe with this name? Super-quick and fantastic? The ingredient list is also playful ~ “about” means use what you’ve got and tweak the seasoning to suit your taste. This sauce is also great for topping pizza. Enjoy!
Ingredients:
- about 2 pounds tomatoes
- about 1/4 cup olive oil
- 1 to 2 garlic cloves (optional), peeled and minced
- salt
- about 2 teaspoons balsamic or sherry vinegar (optional)
- red chili flakes (optional)
- handful of basil leaves (optional)
Procedure:
- Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Cut a cross on the bottom of each tomato. Remove pot from heat, plunge tomatoes into water, and let sit for 1-2 minutes, until skins loosen at cross mark. Spoon tomatoes into a colander and rinse with cold water.
- Skin and stem tomatoes; if really juicy, squeeze out some juice into sink. Crush pulp with your hands into a bowl, breaking it up into small chunks.
- Pour oil into a large frying pan and heat over medium heat. Add garlic if using, tomato pulp, and a big pinch of salt. Cook 1-2 minutes, until pulp breaks down and releases juices. Using a slotted spoon, put pulp back in bowl, leaving juice in pan.
- Simmer juice until thick enough to leave a mark when you scrape the bottom of the pan, 2-3 minutes. Check seasoning. If your tomatoes are not very tasty, add vinegar and a bit more salt, and chili flakes if you want a kick. Stir pulp and basil into sauce. Sauce keeps well refrigerated for 1 week.
Source: Sunset Magazine, July 2011
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