Marinara

Method

1. mash4 min
   by hand, in the can or a bowl
   tomatoes crushed between the fingers into ragged pieces, seed pockets opened, juices kept — a blender whips air into the pulp and the finished sauce sets pale and foamy instead of deep red
2. saute4 min
   low, oil barely shimmering
   olive oil + sliced garlic (+ red pepper flakes), until the slices go translucent and smell sweet but take no color — garlic browns at about 150°C and the bitter pyrazines it makes then never cook back out, so pull the pan off the heat early rather than late
3. simmer30 min
   uncovered, lazy bubble, wide pan
   + crushed tomatoes + salt, stirring every few minutes and scraping the corners; salt now, not at the end, because it draws water out of the pulp so the sauce reduces instead of just sitting there. Done when a spoon dragged across the bottom leaves a track that fills in slowly and the oil has separated into orange pools at the edge
4. fold2 min
   off the heat
   + torn basil (+ butter, for a rounder sauce), stirred until the leaves collapse — basil's aroma is mostly volatile linalool and methyl chavicol, boiled off within a minute, so leaves added at the start contribute color and nothing else. Taste: add sugar only if the tomatoes are metallic and sharp, a quarter teaspoon at a time
5. rest5 min
   covered, off heat
   the sauce, so the separated oil re-emulsifies into the pulp as it cools slightly and it plates as one glossy substance rather than a puddle with a slick on top