Do you have a few sad looking tomatoes left on your vines? How about a farmer’s market table piled high with heirlooms? In a pinch, a store-bought basket of cherry or pear tomatoes will do. Last year, I slow-roasted halved cherry tomatoes and went to heaven. This year, in spite of a cool summer and a soil-borne disease or two, I managed to pick a few juicy tomatoes off our vines each week. But the end is near, and the harvest dwindles. I wanted to cook something that would honor those last survivors, hanging bravely on the vines, toughing out cold night winds. I found the perfect solution at In Praise of Leftovers.
It’s the simplest recipe for a sauce ever, and I promise you it will not disappoint. Follow her directions and you will end up with a silky-rich, sinfully-intense reduction, the very essence of late-season tomatoes in a bowl. Toss it with some pasta that has ridges or curls so that the sauce sinks into every curve. Make sure you have some bread handy to sop up any droplets that cling to the bowl. Yes, it’s that good.
It’s more of a method than a recipe. Throw an assortment of tomatoes in a baking dish. Add a handful of fresh basil, thyme, and a little rosemary. Some kosher salt, a pinch of sugar, minced garlic, and a generous amount of olive oil. Thrown it in an oven for a really long time. Pick the tomato skins and herb stems out after it’s cooled a bit. Toss with hot, cooked pasta (gluten-free, if you’re so inclined), top with some grated hard, dry italian cheese, and you look like a genius. You’ve spent a total of 10 minutes in the kitchen; the oven’s done the rest. No one needs to know it’s that easy!
