Are you like me and can't resist a good sale at the market? I usually go grocery shopping at San Francisco's Chinatown before the market closes. The grocery markets offer deep discounts to clear out what is left from the day. No joke, once I bought a 20 pound box of apples for $5.

I have a big box of tomatoes sitting in the kitchen and I was hosting my 'Girls' Night Out' Buitoni's dinner party. I made a caramelized tomato basil sauce for the beef and sausage ravioli and it was a hit. A nice departure from the usual stewed tomato sauce.



The key to get a good wrinkled brown crust on the tomato skin is to seed the tomato. I cut the tomato in half and squeeze it like a lemon to remove all the seed and pulp.



serves 2

9 ounces pasta or stuffed pasta
2 tomatoes, seeded and cut into 8 pieces
8-10 basil leaves, julienned
2 cloves garlic, minced
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Olive oil

pinch of chili flakes (optional)

Boil pasta according to package, drain. Lightly coat bottom of pan with olive oil on medium heat. Cover pan with the tomatoes and season with salt. Do not stir the tomatoes, let the tomatoes brown 3-4 minutes. Add the garlic, chili flakes and stir the tomatoes and let brown, 2-3 minutes. Stir in pasta, basil and season with salt and pepper.

Top with freshly grated Parmesan Regianno.



...and now to think of more recipes for the rest of my tomatoes.