3/4 cup Minced shallots
2 tsp Minced peeled fresh ginger
2 Garlic cloves, minced
1/4 cup Unsalted butter - (1/2 stick)
2 cups Diced peeled fresh ripe tomatoes
(if necessary, you may use an equivalent
amount of canned tomatoes)
1 pinch Sugar
Salt, to taste
Freshly-ground black pepper, to taste
1/4 cup Minced fresh parsley leaves


Cook the shallots, ginger, and garlic in the butter in a medium skillet over moderate heat for 4 minutes, stirring. Stir in the tomatoes and the sugar, and gently simmer, stirring occasionally, for 15 minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Put the sauce through a food mill or puree in a food processor or blender until smooth. Toss with hot pasta and parsley leaves. Serve immediately. This recipe yields 4 servings, enough sauce for 1 pound of dried pasta.
Comments: This sauce is not a traditional Italian sauce, but don't let that stop you -- the surprise of fresh ginger in a tomato sauce is utterly delicious. This is a great sauce to make ahead and reheat when you need a really quick meal. To make this sauce even quicker, you can serve it unpureed or unmilled -- but we think the extra step of smoothing it out better distributes the ginger flavor. This sauce is superb with spaghetti or any long, thin, dried pasta.
Recipe Source: THE DEAN & DELUCA COOKBOOK by David Rosengarten with Joel Dean and Giorgio DeLuca (c) 1996 Random House, New York, NY - 563 pages - $35.00 As reprinted in the Nov/Dec, 1997 issue of Cookbook Digest
Formatted for MasterCook by Joe Comiskey, aka MR MAD - jpmd44a@prodigy.com -or- MAD-SQUAD@prodigy.net
-26-1997