Best Tomato Sauce Ever!
I know that’s a bold claim, but it’s hard to overstate how good this sauce is. This recipe is pure Italian cooking at its finest. Italian cuisine is based on the quality of the ingredients and cooking them at the perfect time of ripeness. This sauce (Salsa di Pomodoro Cimelio) is the pure taste of the Heirloom Tomatoes with Bucatini pasta. No excessive seasoning, just the heirloom tomato is allowed to take center stage.
What if I can’t get Heirloom Tomatoes?
This sauce is equally good with super fresh, ripe, and red Roma tomatoes. Again, follow the recipe as given; add 2-3 Roma tomatoes to every Heirloom tomato in the recipe.
Can I use Another Type of Pasta besides Bucatini?
Yes, you can. Use the best quality pasta you can find. Preferably, one made in the old world tradition pressed through at slow speed utilizing a bronze dye.
Can this Dish be made Vegetarian or Vegan?
Of course! For vegetarians, don’t add the Italian ground sausage. To make this Vegan eliminate the meat, butter, cheese and use vegan pasta.
The Italian ground sausage is entirely optional. Either way, it is delicious.
To make the extra virgin olive oil infused, first, add ten peeled garlic cloves (lightly smashed), 1 tsp of red pepper flakes, and 4-5 stalks of basil (about 25-26 leaves). Place the pan over medium heat until the oil is at a light simmer. Then, reduce the heat and cook until the garlic cloves start to get brown.
When the garlic cloves start to get brown, remove the pot from the heat. Allow the oil to cool down and steep for an additional 15 minutes.
Prepare a fine mesh strainer over a container to catch the infused extra-virgin olive oil.
Reserve the olive oil and discard the garlic, red pepper flakes, and basil.
These beauties are from my garden. Heirloom tomatoes are grown in rich dark soil still warm from the sun. Delicious in their own right. Heat a large stockpot of water (2 gallons) over high heat seasoned with 2 tbsp of kosher salt. Once the water boils, gently lower the tomatoes into the water and cook for 1-2 minutes.
Immediately transfer the tomatoes to an ice bath in a large mixing bowl. This thermal shock will help the tomato skins to separate from the pulp.
The tomato skins will come off quickly. If you are not using the food mill technique, slice the tomatoes in half through the equator and squeeze out the seeds while preserving as much of the pulp you can. Next, roughly chop the tomatoes and cook them down in a large saute pan or wide shallow pot.
Since I’m using a food mill, slice the tomatoes into quarters and reserve. The food mill will remove all the seeds and skins automatically.
To operate the food mill, place the mill over a container to catch the tomato puree. To this, add enough tomatoes to fill the basket halfway. Crank the handle clockwise and now and then reverse the action and work the tomatoes through the mill.
You can see the tomato skins and seeds are all that’s left. Keep going.
Twelve tomatoes yielded almost 3 quarts of tomato puree.
Start the sauce by adding 1/2 of the extra virgin olive oil to a large, wide, shallow saute pan. Reserve the remainder of the infused olive oil when checking the seasoning. Then, add more olive oil if you need to or keep it for another use.
To the hot pan of infused olive oil, add the tomato puree. Next, cook until the sauce begins to simmer over medium heat. Once the sauce starts to bubble around the edge, reduce the heat to low to medium-low. Reduce the sauce by 40%(about 1 hour), stirring occasionally. Afterward, add the reduced sauce to a container with a lid and reserve.
To prepare the heirloom tomato sauce for the pasta, heat a saucier or saute pan with 1/2 cup of sauce and keep warm. Next, boil the pasta as to the directions on the box. (For me, the Bucatini took 18 minutes.) Then, add the cooked pasta directly to the warm sauce. Reserve some of the pasta water for later thickening!
(Two portions of pasta in this image.) After adding the hot cooked pasta to the warm tomato sauce, turn and mix with a rubber spatula or a set of tongs. Cook the sauce into the pasta. Each pasta will absorb the sauce differently, so add a little more sauce if you need to. If you find the sauce is too thin, add a little of the reserved starchy pasta water.
As the heirloom tomato sauce cooks into the pasta, add some pecorino romano, Italian ground sausage, or anything else you wish (optional).
To serve, pick up a portion of the Bucatini in heirloom tomato sauce and serve in a warm pasta bowl. Garnish with more cheese, Italian ground sausage, or chiffonade of basil.
Vegetarian version.
Wine Pairings: 2017 Barolo Piedmont, Italy, 2017 Chianti Reserve, Tuscany, Italy, 2019 Eola-Amity Hills Pinot Noir, Willamette Valley, OR
Heirloom Tomato Sauce with Bucatini Pasta
Equipment
- food mill
- chef knife
- cutting board
- saucepot
- large stockpot for boiling pasta
- saucier or saute pan
- pasta scoop or colander for cooked pasta
- cheese grater (optional)
- Tongs
- high-temperature rubber spatula (optional)
Ingredients
Heirloom Tomato Sauce and Pasta
- ½ cup oil, olive extra-virgin
- 10 large cloves of garlic, slightly smashed
- 4-5 whole basil, with stems (at least 24 leaves), plus more for garnish
- 1 tsp pepper, red flakes
- 12 whole tomato, heirloom preferably deep red
- 6 tbsp butter, good quality (½ tbsp per portion)
- 24 oz pasta, Bucatini, dried, or your favorite pasta (2-3oz per person)
- 2 tbsp salt, kosher for 2 gallons of pasta water
Garnish
- ½ lb cheese, Pecorino Romano
- 4 links sausage, Italian sweet or hot (optional)
- To taste salt, kosher
- 4 tbsp basil, chiffonade
Instructions
Make Infused Oil
- Use a small to medium saucepot and add ½ cup of high-quality olive oil over medium-low heat. To this, add (4-5) bunches of fresh basil with stems (24-26 leaves total). Next, peel and slightly smash ten large cloves of garlic and one tsp of red pepper flakes.
- Slowly cook the garlic, basil, and red pepper flakes in the olive oil, occasionally turning the garlic and basil in the oil. Once the garlic cloves turn slightly brown, remove the oil from the heat and allow the oil to steep for an additional 15 minutes. After the oil has cooled and steeped, strain the oil, pulling red pepper, basil, and garlic out. Save the oil and discard the other ingredients. Reserve
Prep the Heirloom Tomatoes for Sauce
- Heat a large pot of water over high heat.
- While the pot is heating the water, fill halfway with ice and water in a large mixing bowl to shock the tomatoes as they come out of the boiling water. Reserve
- Once the water has come to a boil, gently lower the heirloom tomatoes into the water for (1 -1½) minutes. After (1-1½) minutes, remove each tomato from the hot water with a slotted spoon or spider sieve and place it immediately into the reserved large mixing boil with the ice water. Allow the tomatoes to cool completely. Reserve
Set up a Food Mill
- Set up a food mill over a larger container to catch the sauce as it immerges.
- Slice each cooled tomato in quarters and place it in the food mill using a chef knife and a cutting board. Process the as to the directions of the type of food mill you are using. Continue processing until all the tomatoes have gone through the mill. Reserve
Alternative Method to the Food Mill
- An alternative method to the food mill is to prep the tomatoes by using the tip of a small knife to cut an X in the bottom of each tomato. Then, core the tomatoes and prepare the boiling water and ice bath.
- Once the water has come to a boil, carefully add the prepared tomatoes to the water and cook for one minute. After 1 minute, remove the tomato from the water and plunge them into the ice bath. Allow the tomatoes to completely cool (about 1½-2 minutes).
- Next, use a small knife and peel the tomato from the X carved into the bottom. Once the tomato is peeled half tomato and carefully squeeze out the seeds preserving as much of the tomato meat as you can. Chop the tomato and reserve.
Cooking the Heirloom Tomato Sauce
- Add half of the infused olive oil to a large saute pan or saucier pan to make the sauce. Heat the infused oil over medium heat. Add the pureed tomato from the food mill or the prepared chopped tomato when the oil is hot. Bring the mixture to a rapid simmer and reduce the heat to medium-low. Reduce the sauce by almost half (about 1 hour). Reserve
Cook the Pasta and Prepare the Sauce
- Cook the pasta to the instructions on the pasta. I find (18) minutes works great for me with Bucatini. While the pasta is cooking, prepare a saute/saucier pan with about ½ cup of the reserved heirloom tomato sauce. Warm the sauce over low heat.
- Add the cooked Bucatini straight into the tomato sauce. (Don't rinse the pasta!) Reserve some of the pasta water to help thicken!
- Next, turn up the heat under the saute/saucier pan to medium. To this, add a knob (1-2 tbsp) of butter to the pasta and sauce. Turn gently with a rubber spatula or a set of tongs. It will depend on the pasta, but you may need to add extra heirloom tomato sauce. To tighten up the sauce, add a little of the reserved starchy pasta water.
- If you wish (optional) to add ground-cooked Italian sausage, pecorino romano cheese, do this now. Use a rubber spatula or set of tongs and gently turn the bucatini until both are well coated.
Serving Bucatini Pasta with Heirloom Tomato Sauce
- Gently pick up a portion of the pasta and sauce with a set of tongs, and place it in the center of the dish/bowl, turning as you lower it down. Do your best to leave the pasta in a mound in the center.
Garnish (optional)
- Garnish with additional grated cheese, chiffonade of basil, Italian ground sausage, and serve.