Basic fresh tomato sauce

Yields 1 serving.

• Pot of water
• 1 whole very fresh tomato (sauce tomatoes, Roma, etc are the best)

Bring the pot of water to boil while fetching the other ingredients. This is both for cooking whatever pasta you will serve this with, and also for blanching the tomato so it can be peeled.

Blanch the tomato for one minute, then set it aside to cool. Dipping it in cold water is a waste of time and a bowl. Once finished, you can add pasta to the water; the sauce and pasta will finish at about the same time.

Add to a pan:

• 1 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
• 1 clove garlic, roughly chopped

Simmer these together until the garlic is very fragrant but has not started to brown, then remove and discard the garlic.

Set the pan aside to cool a bit so nothing burns, then peel the tomato. Chop it roughly, remove any tough core material, and toss it into the oil. Cook it as aggressively as you can without splattering everywhere, using the heat to help break it down while smashing it with a fork.

As the tomato cooks, add a few more ingredients:

• Pinch of salt
• Small pinch of red pepper flakes
• Dash of dry basil or a few shredded fresh leaves

Continue cooking aggressively so the sauce is nearly dry when the pasta finishes. It's OK if it breaks. Once the pasta is done, add it to the sauce, adding in enough starchy pasta water to cook them back together, making a smooth sauce that sticks to the pasta.

Serve with grated parmigiano reggiano, the drier/older the better.

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Last modified: Sat Feb 19 15:15:53 MST 2022. Converted from recipes/basic_fresh_tomato.md.
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