Fresh Tomato Sauce

Quick Fresh Tomato Sauce

DAVID TANIS - New York Times

 

 

INGREDIENTS

5 pounds tomatoes

¾ teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 tablespoon tomato paste

1 garlic clove, halved

1 basil sprig

1 bay leaf

PREPARATION

Cut tomatoes in half horizontally. Squeeze out the seeds and discard, if you wish. Press the cut side of tomato against the large holes of a box grater and grate tomato flesh into a bowl. Discard skins. You should have about 4 cups.

Put tomato pulp in a low wide saucepan over high heat. Add salt, olive oil, tomato paste, garlic, basil and bay leaf. Bring to a boil, then lower heat to a brisk simmer.

Reduce the sauce by almost half, stirring occasionally, to produce about 2 1/2 cups medium-thick sauce, 10 to 15 minutes. Taste and adjust salt. It will keep up to 5 days in the refrigerator or may be frozen.

Notes: When the 15 minutes were up, I started the pasta, and cooked everything for 10 more minutes, then finished the pasta in the sauce.  Used dried basil.