Salse Di Pomodoro

Whether your tomato sauce of choice is raw, cooked, sweet, racy, buttery, velvety, chunky, fruity, complex or simple, Croce (Pasta Classica) makes it clear that certain principles adhere. An ardent proponent of quickly cooked sauce, she divides her 45 recipes into five varieties for use on pasta, pizza, risotto and more: basic, quick, vegetarian, with meat (the only long-simmering kind) and with seafood. She stresses the simplicity of Italian-made sauces and the techniques whereby an American kitchen can turn out a delicious sauce in which the tomato is made to ""taste like a tomato."" Especially useful is a discussion of canned tomatoes (whole, crushed, pureed), tomato pastes and prepared ""sauces."" History, fundamentals and mail-order sources round out this useful and enticing specialty compendium. (July)