It's Time to Make Tomato Sauce!

Italian markets are beginning to fill with San Marzano tomatoes, the wonderfully rich plum tomatoes that grow on the flanks of Mount Vesuvius, and supermarkets are also putting out racks of canning jars for those who will be transforming pounds of those wonderful tomatoes into sauce, to go over pasta (witha sprig of basil and a dusting of cheese), spread over pizza, make pappa al pomodoro, or simply to set aside for the winter months. A few recipes:

• Pomarola: The Classic Tuscan tomato sauce.
• Dino's Marinara Sauce: A treat from Dino Romano. Make a LOT.
• Quick Cooking Neapolitan Pummarola: Simplicity, and as it says, quick.

And things to use your sauce for:

• Pasta alla Carrettiera: A Carrettiere is a cart driver, and this is the sort of thing one expects to find in a truck stop -- simple, tasty, and satisfying.
• Bucatini all'Amatriciana: This zesty pancetta and tomato sauce is commonly associated with Lazio and Rome, but is actually from the town of Amatrice, which was just over the border into the Abruzzo before Mussolini redrew the maps
• Sugo alla Puttanesca: There are a number of stories about the origins of puttanesca sauce, the raciest being that a Puttana, or (ahem) Lady of the Evening, could cook it in the time it took her to take care of a client, and enjoy it while recovering from her exertions. Whatever, it is good.
• Spaghetti alla Norma: When I was quite little my father worked on an excavation in Sicily, and Spaghetti alla Norma, spaghetti with rich, sensual tomatoey eggplant sauce, is one of the earliest dishes I remember.