5-tomato pomodoro sauce
On a recent visit to Italy, Luigi spoke to me about pomodoro sauce. “It’s just a boring, standard tomato sauce”, I protested.
“No, John, you’ve got it all wrong”. He insisted that you must combine five different sorts of tomato to create a wonderful pomodoro sauce.
Back in Paris, I went to my local supermarket, and sure enough, they had several types of tomato. So, I bought them, and with Ann’s help, I prepared a 5-tomato pomodoro sauce. It was simply delicious – rich, subtle, complex and delicate.
Today, Marie-Francoise was coming to lunch. Since she is somewhat particular, I decided to test the market and prepare another 5-tomato pomodoro sauce for her. I think that she loved it. We ate it with fresh tagliatelle pasta.
So how do I prepare 5-tomato pomodoro sauce:
— Finely chop an onion, and a whole head of garlic. Then fry them in good quality olive oil until they are golden..
— Finely grate two red bell peppers (called capsicums in Australia). Then add them to the onions and garlic.
— Very finely chop the 5 tomatoes, and add them to the frying mixture.
— When it starts simmering, add some basil leaves.
You should then allow the 5-tomato pomodoro sauce to simmer for about an hour. There is no need to add liquid because the tomatoes break down into liquid.
At this point, please taste the 5-tomato pomodoro sauce. In my case, I believe that you need to add some tomato paste (to taste).
This recipe is just my creation based on Luigi’s 5-tomato principle – he didn’t give me any instructions. I am sure that there are many other ways of doing it.
But whatever you do, don’t add any bacon or smoked ham. This would only detract from the beauty of the 5 tomatoes.
Bon appetit!