Celebrate The Tomatoes

This is it! Act now! It’s harvest time! Prime time for…

TOMATOES.

Sam Sifton’s marvelous ode to tomatoes and “valedictory meals” in the New York Times Sunday magazine inspired me to write my own ode to tomatoes.

My homemade late-summer tomato sauce rarely fails to fill hungry stomachs, and always pleases discerning palettes. The best part is that it is very simple to make. I am telling the truth.

Especially at this time of year, it is so important to make the most of the fresh food available. I can’t stress enough that cooking “from scratch” with fresh ingredients does not have to be difficult.  To prove it, here is a photographic step-by-step instruction guide to make…

Rosanna’s Late Summer Tomato Sauce

Ingredients

1 lb fresh, ripe, and juicy summer tomatoes

1 cup olive oil

1 bunch coarsely chopped green onions

2 cloves garlic, finely chopped

4 tbs salt (preferably sea salt)

1 lb penne pasta

Steps

1. Wash tomatoes in a strainer
2. Set pot of water to boil, for the tomatoes

3.   Prep a bowl of ice water in the sink

4.   When water boils, plop one or two tomatoes in the pot. Leave for 3-5 min, until the skin begins to crack. Then remove tomatoes with a slotted spoon and place in the bowl of ice water.

5.   Put another pot of water to boil, for the pasta

6.   Peel the skin off the tomatoes. They should come off easily.

7.   Liquefy the peeled tomatoes in a food processor or blender.

8.  Chop green onions coarsely and garlic finely. Set aside.

9.    Pour olive oil into a large saucepan. Put on med heat and allow oil to warm.

10  Add green onions to saucepan, garlic a little after, and stir until translucent, about 5 minutes.

11  Add pureed tomatoes to oil and onions. If the sauce starts to boil, reduce heat to low and let simmer for 15 min.

12  Add 2 tbs. salt to sauce and stir

13  Let sauce simmer for at least 20 more minutes, but the more time the better. Add more salt to taste.

14  Add 2 tbs. salt to boiling pasta water. Then add penne pasta. Let pasta cook until firm but not crunchy, 12-15 min.

15  While the pasta is cooking, set the table. We used Cin Cin! glassware, Farmer’s Market bowls, and Napoleon pearlized copper flatware.

16   Drain pasta and ladle a portion of sauce into the empty pasta pot.

17  Pour pasta back into pot, ladle more sauce over the top of the pasta, and mix. Add more salt to taste.

18  Ladle pasta into bowls, and finish with salt, Parmesean cheese, or chopped fresh basil.

See? I told you it was easy.

Buon Appetitio!

www.rosannainc.com