Surreal though it may sound, I woke up this morning in an apartment in Palermo and found some grungy looking tomatoes in a fridge. It’s Lewis’ fridge, and also his apartment so don’t worry, it’s not an accident that I’m here.
The tomatoes were looking a bit sad mainly because he stores them in the fridge (you shouldn’t really do this as it ruins their cellular structure and flavour but he’s at work and I haven’t told him this yet) so I decided to make a tomato sauce with them. I used to do this quite a lot on the boat with big, beefy tomatoes that were on the turn, so here’s a quick recipe so that if you ever find yourself at a loose end in Italy in October, you know EXACTLY how to entertain yourself.
You will need:
- Any number of tomatoes that are going off (any variety too, but chonky ones are best for this recipe – the smaller ones do better roasted with olive oil)
- Extra Virgins
- Dried oregano/basil
- Black pepper
- Splash of red wine/balsamico
- garlic cloves (between 1-65)
Roughly chop your tamatas into quarters (I don’t bother peeling them like some recipes do). Put them in a pan that will fit them snugly but they’re a few inches deep – you don’t wanna be frying them is what I’m saying. This obvo depends on how many tomatoes you’ve got. Splop in half a mug or so of water, a huge lug of olive oil (I used about 75ml for 600g of tomatoes but up to you tbh), 2-3 cloves of garlic, roughly chopped, oregano, and salt and pepper. Simmer this for ages (at least 40 minutes) on a very gentle heat, stirring when the whim occurs. When the tomatomomatas are soft and lots of the liquido has gone, add in a splash of wine. Simmer this a bit more and taste it. If it’s really acidic, add a lug more olive oil. Season the sauce to your own taste with whatever else you fancy. This is lit on steaming hot fusilli with shagtonnes of parmesan.
Student Cuisine for the Gloomy Teen 
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