We all have made sauce for pasta out of the Imported (i hope
by now you are only using San Marzanos from Italy!!!) canned tomatoes...an awesome product, but have you ever made
a quick (fairly) sauce out of fresh vine ripened tomatoes?  Some major differences in how these beauties need to be
prepared versus the canned variety.  You may be saying, tomatoes are not in season, is he on crack??? However, most
supermarkets and stores do carry, albeit expensive, vine ripened tomatoes, with the vine still attached.  They can be
imported, sometimes from Israel, from Holland, or, the ones I bought on Saturday were USA grown.  The color must
be as deep as the August tomatoes at the farm market, or don't even bother.  Pick the tomato up to your nose (just
not onto your nose!) and smell it...it should have that garden fragrance a summertime fruit would have.  This was
the group I bought...
   For a lb. of pasta you need 18 Roma Plum tomatoes.
Rinse them and pat dry with paper towels.  Put up a pot of water and cook 1 lb. of Gemelli ( i like the DeCecco brand )
till al dente, adding a good amount of salt according to the package directions.  While the water is coming to a boil,
chop 3 cloves of garlic finely.  Add them to a large skillet with 3 tbs. of extra virgin olive oil.  Sorry Bobby Flay, I cook
with extra virgin, i use it for everything.  It's not just for marinades and drizzling over mozzarella.  Chop the tomatoes into
a small dice.  Reserve.  Heat the oil till the garlic is sizzling.  Add 1 tsp. crushed fennel seeds, 1/2 tsp. hot red
pepper flakes, 1 tsp. kosher salt.  Let this get fragrant, about 1 -1 1/2 minutes.  Then add the tomatoes.  Stir well and let
this simmer for 15 minutes, stirring frequently. 
  The sauce should start to thicken in
15 minutes.  Add 2 tbs. more of olive oil, 5 torn fresh basil leaves and check for seasoning.  The big difference
in cooking with fresh tomatoes versus the canned is the seasoning, ie: salt and pepper seasoning.  Canned
tomatoes have a more concentrated flavor, they need less salt and pepper to make them tasty.  Fresh tomatoes
are wonderfully tasting raw, they need little enhancement to draw out their flavor.  But when you are cooking
with the raw product, it needs some more prodding in the seasoning department.  Just add in small amounts
and taste.  After the sauce has thickened, about 20 minutes of cooking time...add the drained al dente pasta
and 1/2 cup of grated Pecorino Romano.  Toss the pasta well with the sauce then serve garnished with
some black pepper, more cheese, and fresh basil leaves, a drizzle of extra virgin.  This is a symphony of
flavors on your plate.  Clean, natural, and uncluttered with any other flavors...just tomato, olive oil, pasta,
basil, and garlic. Let it sit for about 5 minutes before you serve it.  It is great at room temperature too.


This style is more like that which you would be served throughout  Italy versus the American-Italian style of adding
lots of sauce to the pasta.
   The aroma off of this plate transports
me back to a restaurant called Ristorante Bikini, somewhere between Pompeii and Sorrento, high on a cliff overlooking
the sea..where i thought I was being a sophisticated bon vivant, gourmet, traveler extraordinaire...it was the summer
of 1986...the day was magnificient..we had just left the blistering dusty ancient heat of the ruins of Pompeii and were
starving.  This restaurant looked so inviting...like out of an old Fellini movie...We ordered the pasta which was
made this same way...we also ordered the Mozzarella del Bufalo....which was warm, and lactic...there were little
flat dishes with cracked black pepper in them.. I sprinkled some on my cheese....only to have almost broken every
one of my teeth...it was crushed volcanic ash...they were ash trays...I was so embarassed, i wrapped the cheese in
napkins and shoved them into my wife's pocketbook so the waiter would not see the young and foolish Americans
eating the contents of the ash tray....she still tells the story....I think we had to buy her a new purse.....