Fresh Tomato Sauce with Rusks

I got this recipe from a Greek friend. When she first mentioned it to me, I assumed the ‘rusks’ were some kind of vegetable. Well, they aren’t. Rusks are dry, hard biscuits or twice-baked bread. You can make your own, you can use crumbled hard tack or pilot bread, or like I did, use Italian biscotti (not the sweet, cookie kind).

Fresh Tomato Sauce with Rusks Ingredients:

4 or 5 ripe tomatoes
¼ cup olive oil
3 cloves sliced garlic
Salt, black, and red pepper
1 -2 cups crumbled rusks
1/2 lb. pasta

Start by putting up a pot of salted water for the pasta. This is a quick, fresh sauce and can be made by the time the pasta is done.

Grate the tomatoes on the large side of a box grater and set aside. In a large pot, sauté the garlic in oil for a few minutes until it starts to color. Add salt, black and red pepper and the grated tomatoes and cook for 20 minutes. Some of the liquid will evaporate and the sauce will thicken. When the pasta is almost done the way you like it, add it to the sauce to finish cooking.

Using a mortar and pestle or the bottom of a small frying pan on a cutting board, crush the rusts to make about a cup full. Serve the pasta and pass the rusk crumbs as you would cheese.