The holiday season is a time that cugines and cuginettes do a lot of celebrating with family and friends, with lots of vino and lots of food!

That is a pretty obvious thing—even though any Sunday in any month of the year for us paisans is like a holiday gathering which centers around meals—these months in particular are even more extravagant. Whether we are talking the seven fish feast on Christmas Eve or Christmas and New Year's Day with whatever type of roast you may have cooking in the oven, there is always gravy or sauce involved somewhere.

If it's for macaroni or crabs or pizza, the red stuff is especially present right now in the Italian-American kitchen, simmering on the stove. It's just an automatic part of so many of our meals. This Thanksgiving was the first in years that I didn't have a pasta course and I'll tell you, I really did miss not having some rigatoni next to my turkey.

I am going to share a few secrets on sauce here. First off, it doesn't always have to be a long-cooked production. You can make a quick sauce with minimal ingredients that can be quite serviceable on its own or as a "starter sauce." A basic marinara (ma-dee-na), what I call my "Johnny Ma-dee-na" contains no meat and can be used for a variety of things. Since this isn't a gravy with meatballs or sausage or braciole, the tomato needs to stand out as the star. I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE New Jersey grown tomatoes. Obviously, it's no longer tomato season here in the Garden State, but there is one canned brand in particular that I use for this Johnny Marinara which contains tomatoes only grown in New Jersey.

People are passionate about their canned tomato brands and are very loyal. Some swear by only Italian grown and some say that the only domestic equivalent is California grown. Well let me tell you this...New Jersey grown tomatoes are superior to many California varieties and even a lot of Italian ones. If you tasted my sauce, I guarantee you would agree. People get so hung up on tomatoes from Italy, but a lot of the time, you could be paying for a brand that may come from Italy but may not necessarily be the highest of quality. Here's some examples of what to be aware of on labels...If you see "Italian Style," I'd question the quality. Italian Grown are good. San Marzanos are great. San Marzano D.O.P. are greater. Look, everything has levels and grades, whether it's jewelry or tomatoes. So now let's talk more about Jersey tomatoes.

Well, there are only two or three canned Jersey grown brands out there and all are equally fantastic. My guess is that they all come from the same farm. Here is what is so amazing about them. Most canned tomatoes contain citric acid. It's a natural preservative and that doesn't automatically make it a bad thing. But if your canned tomatoes are particularly acidic, that means there are high levels and that usually means you are going to get agita. Aaah-gee-taaa my goomba!

Hey some people prefer a thick, pasty sauce all the time and if that's your preference, the citric acid level would not matter to you. A sauce is going to be particularly acidic if you are using whole tomatoes with lots of seeds. But if you like a light, sweet sauce (especially alongside these heavy holiday meals), go for an already-crushed variety of Jersey grown tomatoes. They contain no citric acid at all. And not much you need to add except a few spices. My brand of choice is LaFede, packed and distributed by Canillo Brothers in Passaic.

So here's my quick sauce recipe: Pour one #10 size can of the tomatoes into your pot. Sprinkle in about half a cup of Johnny's Special Ten Spice Blend. I'll share that mix one last time for you all. That's sea salt, fresh cracked pepper, parsley, oregano, garlic powder, granulated onion powder, thyme, rosemary, red chili flakes, basil. Simmer on the stove for about twenty-five minutes on a medium flame. That's it. That's the real pomodoro technique! Once those ten spices get incorporated into the sweet, bright red tomatoes, you are good to go. A drizzling of extra virgin olive oil into the pot never hurts.

Again, you can leave this just as is and serve on top of your favorite macaroni, veal or eggplant cutlets. Makes a perfect pizza sauce spread on fresh dough. If you are using it for that purpose, there's not even any need to heat it up. Or as I said, this can be your base or starter for a more involved sauce.

Wanna start adding things? Go ahead! Toss in chopped onions, whole garlic cloves, and some meatballs if you like. Crumble up the meatballs for a meatball Bolognese along with some diced carrots. Add more chili flakes for a Fra Diavolo and if you want to thicken things up, a can of tomato paste can certainly do the trick. Add a splash of wine or balsamic...Add cream, grated cheese and vodka and you got a vodka cream sauce. Maybe peas or mushrooms. The possibilities are endless. The one thing you do NOT need to add is any sugar. As I said, there is no acidity and no bitterness. You really are going to be amazed at how red and vibrant these Jersey grown tomatoes are, I really can't do them justice by writing about them.

I am not trying to convert anyone off of their favorite Italy grown tomatoes here. When I go all out for my three hour Sunday Gravy I still like a combo of these with the Italian (Cento San Marzano) and California (Del Monte) tomatoes. I am not here to preach shortcuts either. I despise commercially-jarred sauces with all their artificial ingredients. There are a few that are made by some friends of mine with local restaurants and they are really good. Some of them even use the tomatoes I speak of in their recipes. Hopefully soon, Johnny's Jersey Marinara will be on store shelves everywhere. In the meantime, I would recommend trying this out yourself. To be honest, you really don't even need all ten of my ten spices...A little salt and pepper and maybe basil is enough, that's how much flavor there is in these LaFede tomatoes.

So don't forget the sauce for all your holiday meals and try this perfect pomodoro on your penne paisans!