Grating Tomatoes

I pride myself on my repertoire of kitchen techniques, and I always thought the way to make a good tomato puree was to plunge ripe tomatoes into boiling water for a minute, cool them quickly, peel off their skins, cut out their stems, remove the seeds with the tip of a sharp knife, and puree the pulp in a food processor or food mill.

But recently I learned a far simpler way: Cut a ripe tomato in half, squeeze out the seeds, and then grate the tomato on the large holes of a four-sided grater until all you are holding is the skin—which you throw away. It's quick, the only tools you need are a knife and a grater, and the tomato puree is perfect.