Fresh Tomato Sauce

My sister Melody was visiting this past weekend and one thing she LOVES to do whenever she can get over to the mainland is to hit up Bosa which is a fabulous Italian grocery store and deli. So Bosa we did go and boy did we do some damage! We loaded up on olive oil, coffee, tea, chocolates, tuna in olive oil, goats cheese, baguette, truffle oil, marinated artichokes, sundried tomatoes and fresh ravioli stuffed with yummy squash and walnuts. All very practical things we kept telling ourselves.

That night, she offered to cook the fresh pasta we had purchased in a quick tomato sauce recipe that she learned from a Bob Blumer workshop. And the sauce was so mind blowing she agreed to let me post the recipe. Thanks Mel!

The thing that makes this tomato sauce so great is that it requires very few ingredients, it only takes a few minutes to make and the tomatoes are actually grated into the sauce, which gives it a fantastically fresh taste. This sauce is a keeper.

Tomato Sauce (2 servings with fresh pasta)
adapted from Bob Blumer's recipe

1 tbsp olive oil
2 shallots, chopped finely
1 clove garlic, minced
2-3 tomatoes
salt and pepper

Optional
fresh basil, finely chopped
parmesan


Pan fry the olive oil and shallots until soft, and then add the garlic and chili flakes. Let the garlic cook for a minute or two until lightly browned and then grate 2-3 tomatoes into the pan. Cook until heated through. When doing this you will find you are holding mostly tomato skin at the end, discard this excess tomato skin. Add fresh basil if you wish, Season with salt and pepper to taste and pour onto your favorite pasta. Garnish with parmesan cheese.