Scott Conants Fresh Tomato Sauce Recipes

POTATO GNOCCHI WITH HEIRLOOM BABY TOMATO SAUCE

Steps:

• For the gnocchi: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Bake the potatoes until cooked through, 1 to 1 1/2 hours.
• Cut the potatoes in half, scoop out the flesh and push the flesh through a tamis, food mill or ricer. Spread the riced potato flesh on a clean work surface. Season with salt and allow it to release its steam for 2 minutes.
• In a small bowl, whisk together the egg yolks and a generous pinch of salt.
• Sift the flour over the potatoes and mix gently with your hands, lifting and letting the potatoes fall through your fingers. Drizzle the egg yolk mixture over the potatoes. Mix the dough and knead briefly until homogeneous. Roll into a log and cut into manageable pieces. Cover with a towel.
• One piece at a time, roll until approximately 1/2 inch in diameter. Cut into individual pieces about 1 inch long. Shape the gnocchi using a fork or other pasta tool. Lay on a floured tray and reserve. Set aside 2 cups of the gnocchi for this recipe; use the remaining gnocchi immediately or freeze for later use (see Cook's Note).
• For the assembly: Fill a pot with water and season with salt; the water should taste like seasoned broth, not salty like the sea. Bring the water to a boil.
• Add the gnocchi to the boiling water. When they rise to the surface, cook for 1 to 2 more minutes.
• While the gnocchi are cooking, add the Heirloom Baby Tomato Sauce to a saute pan with some red pepper flakes if using and a drizzle of extra-virgin olive oil over medium heat. Add 3 ounces of the pasta water to the saute pan, then add the butter.
• Remove the gnocchi from the pot using a wire skimmer and add to the saute pan. (Note: You can also use a pasta basket or a perforated pan insert.) Toss the gnocchi in the pan to emulsify the butter and finish with some Parmesan and basil. Plate the gnocchi and finish with a drizzle of extra-virgin olive oil.
• In a saute pan, heat the oil slightly. Add the garlic slices and saute for 30 seconds; there should be no color on the garlic. Add the tomatoes to the pan, season with a little salt and saute; the tomatoes will release their juices. Continue cooking until fairly dry. Add the basil and oregano and mix to incorporate. The sauce should be chunky, fresh looking and not too thin. Taste and adjust the seasoning with salt and red pepper flakes if needed.

SPAGHETTI WITH TOMATO SAUCE

Steps:

• Bring a large pot of water to a boil with about 3 teaspoons of salt.
• Meanwhile, put the tomato sauce in a large saute pan and cook over medium heat to further concentrate the sauce's flavors.
• Cook the spaghetti until just shy of tender. Reserve some of the pasta cooking water and gently drain the spaghetti. Add the spaghetti and a little of the pasta cooking water to the pan with the sauce; the starch and salt in that water will help the sauce adhere to the pasta. Add the basil, give the pan a good shake, increase the heat to medium-high, and let the pasta finish cooking in the sauce. The sauce should coat the pasta and look cohesive, and when you shake the pan, the sauce and pasta should move together.
• Take the pan off the heat and add the Parmigiano-Reggiano and butter. Using two wooden spoons (tongs can tear the fresh pasta), toss everything together well.
• Divide the pasta among serving bowls. Finish with a drizzle of extra-virgin olive oil and serve.
• To peel the tomatoes, use a paring knife to cut a small x on each tomato. Bring a saucepan of water to a boil, and have ready a bowl of ice water. Boil the tomatoes for about 10 seconds, then plunge them into the ice bath. The shock of going from hot to cold should cause the skin to contract, making it easier to peel. Use your fingers or a small paring knife to pull the skin off. If the skin is stubborn, try boiling and shocking the tomato again.
• In a wide saucepan, heat 3 tablespoons olive oil over medium-high heat. Add the tomatoes; be careful, as the oil may spurt. Add 1 1/2 teaspoons salt and cook, stirring occasionally, until the tomatoes soften, 2 to 3 minutes. Lower the heat to medium and, using a potato masher, smash the tomatoes, really working the masher to break them up. If the consistency is thick or if they get too dry, add the tomato boiling water or reserved tomato juice to the pan. Cook, occasionally mashing and stirring, for 45 minutes.
• Meanwhile, in a small saucepan, heat 1 cup extra-virgin olive oil over medium heat. Add the garlic and red pepper flakes and cook, stirring occasionally, until the garlic is golden brown, about 5 minutes. Remove the oil from the heat and let the ingredients steep for 5 minutes.
• Strain the oil into the cooked tomatoes. Stir to combine. Remove the sauce from the heat. Taste and add additional salt, if needed. The sauce may taste spicy on its own, but it gets balanced when used with other ingredients, especially the pasta, butter, and cheese. The sauce will keep, covered and refrigerated, for 2 days. Reheat gently before serving.
• In a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook, combine the "00" flour, semolina flour, and salt on low speed. Add the egg yolks, olive oil, and up to 1 1/3 cups water, adding the water a little at a time, and continue to mix on low speed. Once the flour is incorporated, increase the speed to medium-low and mix/knead the dough for 5 minutes.
• Lightly dust a work surface with a mix of "00" flour and semolina.
• Dump the dough out onto the work surface and knead by hand for a few minutes. Shape the dough into a rectangle, wrap it in plastic wrap, and let it rest for 1 hour.
• To roll and shape the dough, set the pasta machine on its widest setting. Lightly flour a rimmed baking sheet. Cut the pasta dough into 4 pieces. Work with one piece at a time and wrap the others in plastic wrap to prevent them from drying out. Very lightly flour the dough and stretch it by hand, then put it on the pasta roller. Run it through the pasta machine twice, starting at the longest setting. Fold it in half and run it through again, so the dough gets thinner each time and wipe the surface of the pasta for excess flour as you go. Run the dough through the machine a couple more times; this serves as a final kneading.
• Set the machine to the next level of thickness and run the piece of dough through again. Keep running the dough through the machine, adjusting the rollers to a thinner setting each time, until the sheet is 1/8-inch-thick; on most machines this means stopping at the 3.5 or 4 setting. Cut the sheet to lengths of about 12 inches. Then, using the linguine cutter, cut the sheet into strands. Repeat with the remaining dough pieces.
• Dust the strands with a little flour (preferably a mix of the "00" and the semolina), and gather the strands into nests by wrapping them around your hand. (At the restaurant, we portion the spaghetti into 4-ounce nests.) Dust the nests with a little more flour, place on the baking sheet, and freeze until hard. (Once the spaghetti is rock-hard, it can be transferred to a freezer bag or other airtight container and kept frozen for up to 1 month.)
• You can also layer the sheets of pasta with semolina flour and cover them with plastic wrap while you get set up to cook them.

SCOTT CONANT'S FRESH TOMATO SAUCE

Steps:

• Bring a large pot of water to a boil; meanwhile, prepare an ice-water bath. With a paring knife, score an X on the bottoms of tomatoes. Working in batches, carefully lower tomatoes into boiling water; when skins begin to split (30 to 60 seconds), use a slotted spoon to transfer tomatoes to ice-water bath. When tomatoes are cool, remove skins (use a paring knife, if necessary), and discard. Halve tomatoes and remove seeds.
• Heat olive oil in a large, wide saucepan. Add tomatoes and red pepper flakes; season with salt and pepper. Cook tomatoes until softened. Using a potato masher, crush tomatoes until they are very fine. Continue cooking until tomatoes are tender and sauce is thickened, 20 to 25 minutes more. Use immediately or let cool and refrigerate in an airtight container, up to 2 days, or frozen up to 2 months.

SPAGHETTI WITH TOMATO AND BASIL

Steps:

• In a wide pan over medium-high heat, heat 1/3 cup of olive oil until quite hot. Add the tomatoes, red pepper flakes, and season lightly with the salt and pepper. (I always start with a light hand with the salt and pepper because as the tomatoes reduce, the salt will become concentrated.) Using a potato masher, mash the tomatoes finely. (This will be easier to do as the tomatoes begin to heat up.) Cook the tomatoes for 20 to 25 minutes, until the tomatoes are tender and the sauce has thickened.
• Meanwhile, stack and roll the basil leaves into a cylinder and cut thinly crosswise into a chiffonade.
• Bring a large pot of amply salted water to a boil. Cook the spaghetti until just shy of al dente. Reserve a little of the pasta cooking water. Add the pasta to the sauce and cook over medium-high heat, gently tossing the pasta and the sauce together with a couple of wooden spoons and a lot of exaggerated movement (you can even shake the pan) until the pasta is just tender and the sauce, if any oil had separated from it, now looks cohesive. (If the sauce seems too thick, add a little pasta cooking liquid to adjust it.) Take the pan off of the heat and toss the butter, basil and cheese with the pasta in the same manner (the pasta should take on an orange hue) and serve immediately.
• Cook's Note: Here is a good tip for peeling and seeding tomatoes: Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Have a large bowl of ice water nearby. Cut a small shallow X on the bottom of each tomato. Ease about 5 tomatoes into the pot and cook for about 15 seconds, and then promptly move them to the ice water. (Do this with the remaining tomatoes.) Pull off the skin with the tip of a paring knife. If the skin sticks, try a vegetable peeler using a gentle sawing motion. Cut the tomatoes in half and use your finger to flick out the seeds.