Bust out the box grater for these quick, no-knife-needed pasta sauces

Linguine With Butternut Squash, Garlic and Olive Oil

Seven years ago, when I was a student at a university in Bologna, Italy, I received one of the most valuable cooking lessons of my life.

I was at a friend’s place when her grandmother, Hermana, rose to start the pasta. She put the water on to boil in a large pot. Next, Hermana heated a glug of olive oil, green-gold and unfiltered, in a wide-bottomed pan. Then, she gripped the handle of the box grater with a fist and rested the metal body on her forearm. Using the large holes, she sequentially grated a sticky clove of garlic, a peeled onion and two ripe tomatoes straight into the warming oil. The contents sputtered, spit and gently collapsed into one another. When it all broke down into a jammy tomato sugo, she finished the sauce with a walnut-size spoonful of butter and fresh basil, torn with her hands.