Homemade tomato sauce

There's tomatoes and then there's Tomatoes, with a capital T. The Tomatoes one of my coworkers brought to work yesterday definitely belong to the latter category. Fresh, plump, pretty much just-off-the-plant. My coworker's father grows them (along with other vegetables) in his garden and they are absolutely delicious. They were extremely ripe so I decided to turn them into tomato sauce right away, before it was too late. Making tomato sauce is not something I do very often, but when I do I enjoy every second of it, mostly because the whole house smells amazing five minutes into it.

Fresh tomatoes, onions, extra virgin olive oil, fresh basil, salt and a little crushed red pepper. That's it. That's my recipe for perfect tomato sauce. Of course there's a gazillion different ways to make sauce, as many as there are Italian (and non-Italian) cooks. But this is the way I made it. And, believe me, it was amazing. I'm looking forward to using it all week long to cook several dishes I already have in mind.

Note: I don't peel my tomatoes to make sauce because I actually like the way the sauce stays thicker that way, but you are free to peel them if you prefer.

HOMEMADE TOMATO SAUCE

10 large tomatoes

2 onions, chopped

Extra virgin olive oil

Salt, to taste

Crushed red pepper, to taste

A bunch of fresh basil

Place whole tomatoes and chopped tomatoes in a large dutch oven, pour some olive oil on top, season with salt and cook over medium heat for about 20 minutes, stirring occasionally, breaking the tomatoes with a wooden spoon as they become soft. 

When tomatoes have cooked for about half hour, season with crushed red pepper, torn basil and toss it in the sauce. Cook for ten more minutes. Turn the heat off and let cool. Use sauce for pasta, pizza or whatever other dish calls for tomato sauce.

Making Mexican in Milano: salsa and guacamole

I know that making Mexican food in Italy may sound like a bizarre idea. After all why would I bother coming all the way here to eat fajitas or tacos? You see, the truth is, Mexican food in Italy sucks. I kid you not. I've tried several restaurants throughout the years and they were all less than memorable. To be honest, some of them were horrible. Which is weird because, let's face it, Mexican food is so easy to make if you buy the right ingredients.

So here's the solution: if you want good Mexican fare while you are in Italy you have to make it yourself, which is what my friend Carolina and I did on Friday night. While she was in charge of making chicken and beef fajitas, my contribution was my famous guacamole and my famous salsa. Why famous, you might ask?

Because I'm the only one in town who knows how to make good ones. Great reason, right?

They are both super easy recipes and, although some people at the dinner table were concerned by the amount of crushed red pepper I poured in both recipes, later they admitted that both were really, really good, although they were really, really spicy. But that's the point of Mexican food —spiciness. Anyhow, the dinner was a success, everyone loved the food and we ended up drinking a little too much wine, something I paid for yesterday on the way to the lake. But that's another story, one that really doesn't belong on a food blog...


EASY GUACAMOLE
Serves 6

3 ripe haas avocados
1/2 red onion, finely chopped
1 tomato, chopped
Salt and crushed red pepper to taste
Juice of one lime

Mash avocados with a fork, mix with the other ingredients and dress with lime to avoid browning.

EASY SALSA

Serves 6

2 cups chopped fresh tomato
1/2 red onion, chopped
Juice of one lime
Salt and crushed red pepper to taste
One bunch of cilantro, minced

Mix all ingredients in a bowl, let stand for ten minutes before serving.

Original Ligurian pesto

Liguria -the coastal region of Italy that borders with France to the West, Piedmont to the North and Tuscany to the East- has a simple yet satisfying cuisine. The abundance of fish, herbs, olive oil and green vegetables also makes it extremely healthy and perfect to embrace in the summer months.
I know you can buy pesto at the grocery store, but seriously, this is a million times better and if you happen to have a big basil plant it's also much cheaper than the pre-made type. Give it a try and you'll never use the store bought kind again. You can use it to make pasta, but it's also good on grilled fish, charred vegetables and if you mix it with hummus it's perfect for dipping fresh veggies.

PESTO

1 large bunch of basil, leaves only, washed and dried
1 medium cloves of garlic
1 small handful of raw pine nuts
1/2 cup Parmesan
1/2 cup Pecorino Romano
extra-virgin olive oil

If you own an immersion blender use it. It's the easiest way to make pesto.
Place basil, garlic and pine nuts in a bowl and process with immersion blender, slowly adding olive oil until you reach a creamy consistency. Slowly add cheese, processing to blend. Pour in a glass jar and cover with a little olive oil to keep the pesto from discoloring. Store in refrigerator until ready to use.

If you don't own an immersion blender you can make it a regular blender, but remember to add an ice cube to the bottom of the blender before you process the basil or the motor will heat the basil and turn it an ugly brown color.