Perfect Fresh Tomato Sauce

Chef's notes

This sauce shows how great tomato can taste with the right combinations of cooking methods and ingredients.

Tomato halves are quickly oven dehydrated in a cookie sheet with high heat. In a separate pan, a variation of Peter's Garlic oil provides all the additional flavors needed to create a fresh tomato sauce that is nothing short of amazing.

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Ingredients

Variation Peter's Garlic Oil (below)
2 tablespoons tomato paste
5 basil leaves sliced
12 large Italian plum tomato (about 2 pounds)
Olive oil for coating
Tuscany Seasoning
1-pound ziti, penne, or your favorite pasta
Parmigiana cheese

Variation of Peter's Garlic Oil

1 cup of olive oil
about 6 garlic cloves halved, skin removed
1 1/2-inch-long sprigs of rosemary
4 fresh sage leaves

Instructions

Make the Variation of Peter's Garlic Oil. Add the olive oil and all other ingredients. Heat until it begins to simmer. Lower heat enough to maintain a slower simmer. Stir occasionally and make sure the garlic doesn't burn. Mixture is ready when garlic is soft and nicely tanned. Stir in the tomato paste for about a minute and add basil leaves. Remove from heat. This can be cooked well ahead. Reheat when needed.
Preheat a hot 450º oven, regular heat (not convection)
Core and slice tomato in half lengthwise. Coat the tomatoes in a bowl with a a liberal amount of olive oil and Tuscany seasoning. Dump the tomatoes into a rimmed cookie sheet with all of the olive oil and seasoning. Flip the tomatoes flat side down. Place the sheet near the bottom of the oven.
The oil on the bottom of the cookie sheet will begin to bubble and the water from the tomatoes will be released. Eventually most of the liquid will evaporate and the top of the tomatoes will begin to brown, 20 minutes to a half hour total. Flip the tomatoes over, place in the middle of the oven and turn heat to low, 300 degrees to dry most of any remaining water. Tomatoes are ready when the liquid on the bottom is only oil and before the edges of the tomatoes just start to burn. Remove from oven.
Cook the pasta al dente. Reserve a cup of the pasta water and drain. Add the pasta back into the empty pan. Add the cooked tomatoes, the hot garlic oil mixture and about 1/3rd. cup of the pasta water. Gently incorporate everything over medium heat adding a little more water if needed.
Remove from heat and toss with parmigiana cheese and serve.

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Perfect Fresh Tomato Sauce

Perfect Fresh Tomato Sauce

Ingredients

Instructions

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