I’ve been a busy little rabbit, preparing for the publishing of my mystery novel, The Belvedere Club. So sandwiched between last week’s guest bloggers, Bette & J.J. Lamb and next week’s guest blogger Patricia Morin, I’m going to offer up one of my favorite tomato sauce recipes, learned while eating my way across Tuscany in 2009.

This recipe is molto facile. Its fresh flavor is great for summer when tomatoes are ripe. But in autumn, I go to the farmers’ market and buy up the last of the cherry tomatoes. Then I make huge batches of this sauce and freeze them in several containers. Come January, when good tomatoes are hard to come by, I start using the sauce and it taste like summer.

I want to credit Chef Paolo Monte for sharing his recipe with me and now you. More about Paolo’s cooking school can be found at his website: //www.cucina-italiana.com/

Salsa di Pomodori Freschi
Fresh Tomato Sauce with Garlic and Basil

Ingredients:

21 oz fresh cherry tomatoes (if using more or less adjust other ingredients)
2 cloves garlic
8 T extra virgin olive oil probably more (this is a rough estimate)
1 small bunch fresh basil
salt & pepper to taste

Directions:

Cut cherry in half or the larger ones in quarters, no need to peel them. Chop garlic and smash with the flat of a knife, and simmer in a sauce pan with some olive oil. Add tomatoes. Olive oil should half cover tomatoes. If not, add more. It should almost look like an olive oil/tomato soup in the beginning. Cover and cook at medium-low heat for about 20-30 minutes, stirring frequently. Add the chopped basil and more olive oil if needed and stir well. The end result will be a hearty, thick tomato sauce. Add to your freshly cooked pasta and enjoy. Or like me, freeze for the future.