Getting Saucy

I've had a jar of tomatoes calling my name for a few weeks now, and with the Farmer's Markets shut down for the season and my tomato supply cut off, it was time for me to listen.  I used the recipe for Linguine with Fresh Sauce and Parmesan (pg 131), but modified it using both the Garlicky Fresh recipe and the Lower-Fat Fresh Sauce (pg 132).  Basically, this meant substituting olive oil for butter, and adding a healthy serving of garlic.

 This recipe ended up being extremely handy, because I had all of the ingredients on hand, including the parmesan cheese and the fresh basil. Also, I only had to cut up one ingredient, garlic.  The entire process from start to finish was about as long as it takes noodles to cook.

 Bittman is really particular about the quality of the tomatoes- he says that if they aren't 'so good that you'd eat them like apples', it's not work making.  He was also adamant about the freshness of the parmesan. I say malarky.  I used parmesan from a tupperware, and canned tomatoes, and the result was still amazing.  I wouldn't doubt that being more particular about the ingredients would improve the result, but as it was, this was one of my favorite things I've made out of Bittman so far.