heirlooms...

Why are heirloom tomatoes so unbelievably delicious?

Ever since last year, when I was exposed to the sheer volume of heirloom varieties grown by the local and lovely Fairview Gardens, I just about cried when the season was over... I was obsessed. We ate at least a couple of pounds of tomatoes every week. I would pick up our regular share and then hop over to the stand and buy more. Embarassing, maybe? Totally and completely delicious? Yes.

Before last year, I understood that the beauty of heirlooms really comes from the most simple preparation-- with buffalo mozzarella or maybe just sliced and lightly sprinkled with flake salt. But I'd never had a simple sauce made with perfectly ripe heirlooms. Man, was I missing out.

Of course, being gluten free meant finding the right gluten free pasta to work with the sauce.


I'm a fan of the Trader Joe's Organic Brown Rice Pasta-- the spaghetti works particularly well here. It's a little more sticky than other brands so the tomato sauce really lathers up the pieces nicely.

Anyway... enough blather: here's the recipe.

what you'll need to feed two fairly hungry people:
- at least two great big heirlooms... or maybe 4-5 smaller ones (the more, the better)
- 3-4 cloves garlic
- fresh thyme (either 2 sprigs of fresh or 1 teaspoon of the dried stuff)
- freshly chiffonaded basil (anywhere from 8 leaves to a fistful works in our house)
- crushed red pepper (1 teaspoon... or more if you are a hot-food-fiend, or you could disregard the pepper completely)
- small chunk of cubed mozzarella (totally optional, btw)
- 1 package of Trader Joe's Organic Brown Rice Spaghetti
- olive oil

Start by filling the biggest pot you have with water... put the tomatoes in before you start the water boiling. Once the water boils, the skins should split. The skin split is the sign that they are done. Pull the tomatoes out and peel away the skins (rinsing them in cool water will help you from burning your fingertips and make this whole step a lot easier-- trust).

Then blend all of the tomatoes together to your desired consistency. I'm a fan of a smooth puree...

In a larger saucepan, bring up 3 tablespoons of olive oil over medium heat.

On the side, gently thwack the garlic cloves with the flat side of your knife so they split open slightly (I do this because I recommend you pull them out later!) and let them rest while the oil heats up. Of course, if you are a garlic fan and like the chunks in the sauce, feel free to mince these finely in this step.

Once the oil is heated properly, throw the garlic in. Be careful not to burn the garlic... and keep the cloves moving in the pan.

When the garlic starts to get a little golden, slowly pour in the blended tomatoes. Be careful of the splash that has made me ruin a couple of shirts.

Salt and pepper to taste. Toss in the thyme whole (again, you can fish this out later). This would also be the time to add in the crushed red pepper to taste. Stir it up.

Let this simmer for about 20 minutes over a medium low heat... keep stirring. At about the 15 minute mark, toss the basil in the pan. This keeps it from losing too much of the flavor before you get the pasta going.

When you start the sauce simmering, start the pasta... cook until al dente. I like to take the pasta directly out of the water and put it right in the sauce and let it cook, stirring often, for another five minutes. By doing this, you let the pasta finish cooking in the sauce, which ultimately tastes better... but figuring out the exact time to pull this out of the boiling water can be a science-- you will find your perfect time after you try this a couple of times.

Top the pasta with as much or as little of the mozzarella as you see fit.

Enjoy.

And then go back for seconds...