Serves 4

Tomatoes and basil have long been known to maintain a symbiotic relationship in the garden where they are beneficial to each other’s development. That relationship continues in the kitchen where their complementary flavors combine in many classic dishes, of which this delectable pasta is far from being the least.  Although the Piedmont region claims this dish as it’s own, Tuscan cooks will very strongly argue the point.

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 tablespoon butter

½  a yellow onion, chopped small

4 to 6 cloves of garlic, minced

¼ cup cream Sherry

3 to 4 ripe tomatoes, chopped

1 tablespoon tomato paste*

1 cup chopped fresh basal

1 pint heavy cream

Salt and coarse ground black pepper to taste

Heat butter and oil together in a heavy skillet.  Add the onion and garlic and gently sauté until soft but not yet beginning to brown.  Add the Sherry and simmer until soft.  Add the tomatoes and simmer until they begin to release their juices.  Add the tomato past and stir well to distribute evenly.  Add the basal and cream and cook at a high simmer until the volume is reduced by about half.  Season to taste with salt and pepper.  Add cooked Gnocchi to the pot anc continue cooking only until the Gnocchi are hot through.  Remove to a serving dish, sprinkle with fresh grated Parmesan and garnish with sprigs of fresh basa.  This dish is the very essence of summer.

* If you grow your own tomatoes, or if you buy locally grown, ripe tomatoes from a growers market, you won’t need the tomato paste.