Pasta con sugo allo Zafferano

Brother Keeley gave us some tomatoes from his garden and I needed to do something with them.  I wanted it to be creative and I needed to do something with the saffron left over from the chicken bouillabaisse.  So I made up a recipe.  Yum!  The sauce is so rich and flavorful.  Anyways...

If you have fresh tomatoes, parboil for 10 to 20 seconds to easily skin and then seed, chop up and toss in with some sauteed shallots and mushrooms and garlic.  Push to the sides to let the water from the tomatoes easily move to the center and reduce.  Toss in your favorite fresh herbs...I have Italian parsley, basil and rosemary in here.  I took out half of this and saved it for another day.  You don't need more than a cup of marinara for this.  Do not use tomato sauce.  If using canned whole or chopped tomatoes - drain first.

Make the saffron cream - 2 cups of heavy whipping cream and a pinch or two of saffron bring to boil, then simmer until reduced by half - put through sieve.

Mix it altogether and add 1/2 cup each of Parmesan Reggiano and Pecorino Romano or 1 cup of one of them, grated.

Add your cooked pasta - looking back on it, because the sauce was so rich, I think I would go with a tagliatelle or pappardelle pasta instead of the ravioli.

You'd think that the fresh basil and tomato would take over the flavor of the saffron - not in a million years.  Saffron is delicate but has an intense flavor to go with the intense color.