Basic Tomato Sauce

To peel the tomatoes:

1. Bring a large pot of water to a boil.

2. Wash and core the tomatoes, then cut an X in the bottom of each so the skins loosen as they cook.

3. Plunge the tomatoes into the boiling water for about 30 seconds. They’re ready to come out when the skins start to shrink split, and wrinkle; don’t leave them in too long, or the tomatoes will start to cook. You’ll probably have to do these in batches to avoid overcooking. Remove the tomatoes with a spider or strainer and immediately plunge them into a large bowl of ice water to stop the cooking process.

4. Once the tomatoes have cooled down, pull the skins off with your fingers. 

To prepare the sauce:

1. Cut the tomatoes in half widthwise. Squeeze out the seed, and juice and discard. (This step is crucial. The key is to bring the sauce to the right consistency as quickly as possible, to preserve the fresh, bright tomato flavor. The more liquid there is, the longer you have to cook the sauce, and the less fresh and tomato-y it will taste.)

2. Roughly chop each tomato half into about 8 chunks-or if they’re ripe enough, you can just pull the tomato halves apart into chunks with your fingers.

3. Place the chopped tomatoes in a large pot with a wide surface area. (If you’re using the same pot you blanched the tomatoes in, be sure to cool it down–you want to start with a cold pot.) Top the tomatoes with the salt. The salt is absolutely integral to the recipe. It goes in at the beginning of the cooking process to help draw the moisture out of the tomatoes so it can evaporate. If you cut down the amount of salt, the sauce won’t work.

4. Turn the heat to medium and let the tomatoes cook down at a lazy bubble, stirring occasionally to prevent sticking. This’ll take 45 minutes to 1¼ hours, depending on season, ripeness, and the general quality of your tomatoes; 30 minutes for canned tomatoes. As the tomatoes cook, use a ladle to remove excess water. (The amount of excess could be anywhere from a cup to a quart, depending on how ripe the tomatoes are, but the sauce should be tomatoes and liquid, not tomatoes floating in liquid.) Smash the tomatoes with a wooden spoon as they cook so that the sauce gradually becomes smoother.

To prepare the flavored oil:

1. Cut the top off the garlic head so that the skin stays on but the tops of the cloves are exposed. Combine the garlic, olive oil, basil leaves, and red pepper flakes in a small pot over medium heat and bring to a simmer. As soon as you hear the basil leaves “crack” (the sound is almost exactly like adding milk to Rice Krispies), take the mixture off the heat and reserve.
    

To finish the sauce:

1. When the sauce is reduced by half to two thirds and is thick but still bright red, strain the oil into the pot and stir to combine.

2. Cook the sauce for about 10 more minutes at a lazy bubble. Stir occasionally to keep it from sticking. When the oil and tomatoes have completely emulsified and the sauce look “whole,” turn off the heat and stir it up a bit in the pot with a masher or a hand blender set on low.

Timing