Brooklyn’s Belly, a new column about the adventures of a foodie in Dumbo Brooklyn is written by the writer of Mangia Vita, Nicole. Her prior column was posted last week.

Is it possible to be jet lagged over a trip that only has a three hour time difference? We got back from a trip to Portland, Oregon on Monday and I swear it’s like we returned from Australia. Just. Cannot. Get. It. Together. So, what is one to do when all creativity has gone out the window? When your only desire is to be fed, and then go promptly to bed? My advice? Stick to what you know… and for me, that’s always pasta.

Somehow we had managed a food shopping trip to Fairway late on Monday afternoon – it took us about twice as long as it normally does but I’m grateful because we got to stock up on stuff we were in sore need of. I took a package of handmade spinach fettucini out of the fridge and set it on the counter next to a head of garlic, and the basil and tomatoes from Tuesday’s CSA and promptly got to work.

In a medium sauce pan I drizzled in good olive oil and 3 chopped cloves of garlic. I like a lot of garlic, so use at your discretion. I turned the burner on and once it heated up nicely I tossed in a helping of red pepper flakes. It’s best to do this when the oilve oil is hot because it releases all the natural oils from the flakes. Once all the tomatoes were roughly chopped (trimming off any yucky parts) and the garlic was sauteed I added them to the pot. In minutes tomatoes started to cook down. You’ll notice a lot of water being released when you make fresh sauce this way, you can drain it off as you go but I prefer to let it cook down itself so I don’t loose any of that yummy tomato juice. Just keep the lid off as it boils and it’ll take care of itself.

As this cooked I added a pinch of sugar (to cut the natural acidity in the tomatoes), a grind of the pepper shaker, some garlic powder and a little dried oregano. That’s it. I then started the pasta in a seperate pot, and because it was fresh it only took minutes to cook to al dente. My sauce was close to done so I turned the heat off and gave it a few pulses with my hand blender. I really don’t like a chunky sauce because it doesn’t distribute evenly over the pasta, so I found this to be a really easy solution.

The pasta was done by this time so I drained it in a colander, tossed it with my sauce, added some fresh chopped basil and a healthy grating of parmesan and asiago cheese we;ve had leftover, and viola! Dinner is served. Now… what to do with these gorgeous (but strange) chinese long beans??

Nicole Cummo Tereza, a graphic designer, food lover, and food blogger, is a Dumbo resident. Read more about her food adventures on her blog, Mangia Vita.