Every morning, Nonni would wake up before the sun, put on a pot of coffee in her percolator and sit at the window to watch the birds as the dawn broke. Then she'd start the sauce. I guess she'd get busy when the birds did. I don't ever remember a time visiting her when there wasn't something cooking on her stovetop. I'd often drag an old milk crate across the floor and stand on it so I could see what was cooking. She made her sauce the Old Country way, caramelizing the tomato paste first. And this is how I make my sauce now, from what I remember.
Roasted Peppers
I picked up some beautiful little peppers at a local farm this week. They are called lipstick peppers. They're small and very rojo! They are in the pimento family and the farmer told me they were very sweet. I decided to roast them on the grill. I often make roasted peppers, but usually under the broiler in the oven. I'll share both methods with you here.
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Sun Dried Tomatoes
Well, okay, they're really oven dried tomatoes.
California sunshine is highly overrated when you live by the water like I do. The coastal fog is lovely for sleeping at night, but most Summer mornings are cool and damp. Wrapping up in a lap blanket with a good book while drying tomatoes in the oven is just the perfect way to spend your morning until the low clouds vaporize around early afternoon. Drying tomatoes this way takes about five hours, low and slow. That's just enough time to finish your book and feel like you've been cooking all day.
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