The freshest tomatoes are from your own garden! I am not good at gardening…yet! One day, I want to have a beautiful bountiful vegetable garden.  For now, I have a pretty sweet hook up with a neighbourhood Ama (grandma in Taiwanese) who just happens to have rows and rows of delicious nutritious vegetables! My sister in law was out for a walk one day and this lovely adorable Ama just happened to ask her if she was interested in buying some garden vegetables. Now we get a variety of weekly fresh veggies!

Last week we got large yellow tomatoes. They have a milder taste than the usual red tomatoes and have a subtle sweetness. It works really well in this sauce. Of course you can substitute any tomato you have. For this recipe I would stay away from the canned tomatoes though, because you won’t be simmering the sauce for long and fresh ones have a lighter taste, making this sauce bright and fresh.

what you need:

• 4 large yellow tomatoes
• 1 large garlic clove
• 1 medium red onion (or any onion)
• 5 green olives, pitted and chopped roughly
• 1 pinch red chilli flakes
• 1 tbsp cooking oil (I use grape-seed oil)
• 1-2 tbsp finely chopped green onion
• salt and pepper
• 6 basil leaves (chopped finely but save 1-2 leaves for garnish)
• fresh parmesan cheese grated on top when serving (*optional)

what to do:

1. Wash tomatoes and roughly chop.
2. Dice onion (small pieces, not too big).
3. In a sauce pan or pot, heat cooking oil for 1 minute or two. Add onions and stir occasionally, preventing them from burning (keep heat at medium or medium low) – not quite caramelizing the onions but just cooking until they are slightly translucent.
4. Add tomatoes, stirring to mix everything. Season lightly with salt, pepper and chilli flakes.
5. Cover and turn the heat to low, about 10 minutes is enough, stirring 2-3 times.
6. While your sauce is simmering you can cook your desired pasta (I used bowties).
7. Remove sauce from heat and add chopped olives.
8. Drain pasta when it is cooked and add as much sauce as desired – toss gently with chopped basil, green onion. Garnish with basil leaves and grated parmesan over top and serve.
9. Enjoy! *Store left over sauce in mason jar or airtight container in the fridge for meals the next day!