Garden-fresh tomato and zucchini pasta sauce

By Linda Felaco

If you've planted tomatoes, around about now, they're probably starting to ripen faster than you can eat them. And as much as I love salads, one can only eat so many of them. So the other night, I made a fresh tomato and zucchini pasta sauce. If you've got about a half-dozen tomatoes that are getting a little too ripe for salad and a zucchini or two, give it a try. It goes from garden to plate in under an hour.

Coat the bottom of a sauté pan with extra-virgin olive oil and heat on medium heat. Crush 4-5 cloves of garlic* with the flat side of a broad knife and peel, slice half an onion,† and add garlic and onion to oil when hot.‡ When onions are translucent, add 6 medium-sized fresh tomatoes,†† diced, and a medium zucchini, cut in half lengthwise and sliced. When the zucchini is cooked, add several basil leaves and salt to taste. Buon appetito!

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*When it's available, I always use the garlic from the farm stand across from South Farm on Old Coach Road.
†When available, I get my onions at Briarfield Farm on Shannock Road.
‡Hint: This is the start of pretty much any Italian recipe.

††You'll want to use a dense, meaty tomato variety, ideally Roma or San Marzano, but we didn't plant any pear or plum tomatoes this year. I used pink brandywines and supersteak. The sauce came out nice and thick and clung to the pasta, exactly as it should.