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12 September 2005
tomato sauce
We've been enjoying fresh tomato sauce--very simply, adding only garlic and olive oil to the tomatoes, and maybe fresh basil--since we discovered Evan's tomatoes. The tomatoes, available from Coastal Organics at the Hollywood Farmers' Market, were named after Evan Kleiman, the Los Angeles chef who tracked down the seeds after seeing the tomatoes in Italy, and who arranged for Coastal to grow them here in California. They're very meaty--not much pulp at all--and they seem to be made for sauce. The variety is, if I have this correctly, Costoluto Castrini. There appear to be a number of costoluto varieties, named after regions or cities--Genovese; Fiorentino, Catania--but so far the Castrini seems to be very hard to find, even on Google. No wonder Evan had such a time finding the seeds on her travels!
A few weeks ago, Evan used her eponymous tomatoes in a simple sauce that accompanied her ricotta gnochetti, and in a smooth gazpacho. Tonight we reprised the sauce (our third batch in a week or so). The gazpacho is next on my list--after all, we bought about 7 pounds of tomatoes on Sunday, so I can afford to experiment. I'm going to sneak away tomorrow to La Española to buy some Spanish sherry vinegar for the gazpacho and a few new salad dressing variations. And this weekend we may purchase a case of tomatoes to share with friends of ours. A saucefest will follow, with the results going into the freezer so we can enjoy the sauce when the tomatoes themselves are out of season.
And I'm already starting to plan Thanksgiving...but I promise it won't be tomato-themed...
[click on the photos above to enlarge, if you wish]