RECIPE: No-Cook Tomato Sauce

Difficulty Level: Easy 

Makes 6 to 7 cups, enough for 8 to 10 servings

Let the tomatoes do the talking with this raw version of a spaghetti-night essential. Use this sauce over hot pasta, raw vegetable ribbons or poached fish or poultry. You can season it to taste with salt and freshly ground pepper or red pepper flakes if you like.

Ingredients:

• 1 large clove garlic, minced

• 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon sherry vinegar

• 3 pounds fresh tomatoes

• 1 teaspoon honey

• 2 tablespoons fresh oregano leaves

Method:

In a cup, combine garlic and vinegar; set aside. Remove stem end of each tomato. Cut tomatoes in half and use your fingers to scrape the seeds into a bowl. Set seeds aside.

Place half the tomatoes in a food processor and pulse until finely chopped but not liquefied. Transfer to a large bowl. Add remaining tomatoes and honey, oregano, and garlic and vinegar mixture to the food processor and repeat. Stir into the sauce in the bowl. If the sauce seems too thick, strain the reserved seed mixture through a fine-mesh sieve and use some of the tomato liquid to thin the sauce.

The sauce will keep refrigerated for a few days.