You say tomato, I say tomato.

Matt found this monsterous specimen at a farmer's market recently. Needless to say, it begged to be made into a caprese salad. Instead, I made it into a sauce for pasta.

What can I say - I have no fresh basil on hand. Sorry.

Making a fresh tomato sauce is super easy, anyway. All you have to do is slice it into bite-sized pieces, throw it into a pan containing well-heated olive oil and chopped garlic, season to taste, and mash the hell out of it.

In this case, I seasoned with salt and pepper, dried basil (I know, I know), and a splash of vodka. Alcohol-soluable flavors, you know.

Of course, save the last bit of salt for the end, and rehydrate wih stock if necessary....

Add freshly-cooked pasta with a bit of its water and a little bit of grated cheese, and you end up with this:


Not too shabby.