TOMATO BASIL AND GARLIC SAUCE RECIPES

Steps:

• Bring a large pot of water to a boil and prepare an ice water bath. Cut a small "x" on the bottom of each tomato. In batches, place the tomatoes in the boiling water and blanch them for about 30 seconds to 1 minute, or until the skins are easy to peel away. Remove and immediately plunge into the ice bath. Peel the tomatoes and halve horizontally. Squeeze out the seeds, using your fingers to get them all. Roughly chop the peeled and seeded tomatoes. Set aside. (You can also use whole peeled canned tomatoes. Simply drain them, seed, and roughly chop).
• Heat a large saute pan over medium high heat. Add the olive oil and heat. When the oil is hot, add the onions and garlic and saute for 2 minutes. Add the thyme leaves, oregano sprig, and chili flakes and saute until the garlic begins to turn golden brown. Add the tomatoes and the sugar and stir well. Lower the heat and cook slowly until the mixture is fairly dry, about 15 minutes.
• Cook the angel hair pasta in boiling, salted water until al dente. Drain the pasta and add it to the sauce. Add the Parmesan and basil and toss well. Place in a large pasta bowl and garnish with Parmesan and basil sprigs.

Steps:

• Give the cherry tomatoes, fresh basil leaves and lemon a quick wash, then dry them before prepping them.
• Grab a cutting board and a sharp knife and prep the cherry tomatoes by slicing them in half and set aside. Then finely mince the garlic - you can do this with a chef’s knife or use a coarse microplane grater and set aside. Next, use a microplane or fine grater and zest the lemon - only zest the yellow part of the lemon peel, not the inner white pith and set aside. Then cut the lemon in half and squeeze a few teaspoons of juice into a small bowl and set aside.
• In a medium saucepan over low heat, add the butter and allow to melt - this should take about 1 minute. Once the butter has melted, increase the heat to medium and add the tomatoes, garlic, lemon zest and lemon juice. Cook for about 5 minutes, just until the cherry tomatoes start to break down. Then add the whole basil leaves to the sauce and give it several stirs until the basil leaves have slightly wilted into the sauce.
• At this point you can remove the sauce from the heat and season with sea salt and optional freshly ground pepper. Stir and serve immediately.