Hello!
It is a grey/overcast day here in Eastern PA. Probably by mid-morning it will be raining here. That's ok, I've a busy day ahead of me and the garden could use a good soaking.
True Confession: Until yesterday, I had never made home-made sauce using fresh tomatoes! I know! I've made sauce using canned tomatoes or jarred marinara sauce that I "doctor." But early yesterday morning (right after I posted yesterday's TNT post) I donned leggings and wellies and headed back over to Rob's to pick more tomatoes. The bounty:
A nice haul, no? The red and green bell pepper on the small plate at the back is from our garden. The hot peppers are the ones I picked at Rob's on Saturday.
I hauled all the tomatoes into a collander and washed them.
That's a lot of tomatoes. I found a NY Times recipe that calls for halving the tomatoes horizontally and then grating the halves against the large holes of a box grater and then discarding the skins. Before doing that I got a bunch of things cooking in my pan: an onion from the garden, the red/green bell pepper, part of another pepper, a shallot, fresh basil, a bunch of chopped mushrooms, a bit of oregano and some parsley. And, of course, about 3-4 cloves of garlic minced. While that simmered in a smear of EVOO, I set to grating the tomatoes. Turns out there were 40! My largest mixing bowl was filled pretty much 2/3 of the way up with tomatoe juice and pulp. I added the previously cooked hot and sweet sausage to the mix of veggies in the pan and stirred that around a bit to let it cook some more.
Then I poured the tomato goodness into another pan, added a bit of salt, some basil sprigs and some tomato paste and got that simmering. I let it cook down a bit and then added the veggie mixture with the sausage. Oh man! The house smelled wonderful and the tastes I had were delicious.
We had planned on having this over pasta last night, but when I texted the above picture to Colin he asked if we could have it tonight when he will be coming over for dinner. Being a nice Mom I said "of course" and promptly took some salmon out of the freezer for Fletch and me to have last night ("Firecracker Salmon" which is a recipe for another day!). The decision tonight will be what kind of pasta? We typically have a big salad with pasta and sauce, but Fletch picked a lot of green beans and has requested that we have those (steamed).
It was fun to make and I'm sure it will taste good tonight. Next time I make this though, I think I will simply roast the tomatoes in the oven and then throw them in the food processor to chop a bit and then put in a pan to cook. Roasting gives tomatoes such a deep (and somewhat sweeter I think) flavor.
Time for another cup of coffee and then start in on my Thursday reports. Hope your week has been going well.
That looks like delicious sauce, and I'm glad you found out how easy it is to make tomato sauce. It always seems like it's hot and humid when I do it, so I've started quartering the tomatoes, putting them in the blender, freezing the puree, and thawing and cooking it down during the winter when I'm happier for warmth from the kitchen. However you do it, homemade tomato sauce is the best. Enjoy it with Colin tonight!
ReplyDeleteI can only imagine how good your kitchen smelled yesterday! And I don't blame Colin at all for wanting to have some of that.
ReplyDeleteMy mother sometimes makes my great-grandmother's "uncooked" spaghetti sauce in the summer. I don't remember the exact recipe, but basically it's diced tomatoes and onions, fresh basil, garlic, and olive oil. The longer it sits, the better it tastes. And it's really good on a hot summer day. Just an idea for the next time you have a tomato bounty and don't feel like cooking with heat!
That sauce looks amazing Vera! What a brilliant idea to grate the tomatoes! Yum!
ReplyDeleteI love this time of year . . . when we can make our own tomato sauce! It's so delish! ENJOY! :-)
ReplyDeleteI follow a guy on You Tube that cooks in Spain and he always grates his tomatoes into his sauce dishes. I had never seen that before. What I need to learn to make is fresh salsa. I can't seem to ever find a ready made one that I like. They are all so watery and salty.
ReplyDeleteOh, this looks delicious--I'm sure the whole house smelled wonderful!
ReplyDeleteThat looks wonderful, and I can only imagine how terrific it smelled as you simmered it. Basil is my favourite smell, especially when I'm making pesto. Make sure you serve that sauce with a pasta shape that helps convey as much of it to your mouth as possible, like fusilli or orecchiette! Wouldn't want to waste a drop.
ReplyDeleteThe tomato sauce sounds superb. I bet it was delicious. I smiled at the Good Mom comment. What we won't do for our children.
ReplyDeleteHello Vee,
ReplyDeleteYour homemade sauce sounds and looks delicious. I am sure I would love the smell of this sauce cooking, yum! Have a great day and a happy weekend!
If you get another bounty of tomatoes, I urge you to try Roasted Tomato Sauce! It freezes well, too. I've shared the recipe here: https://www.knitorious.life/2010/08/vickis-roasted-tomato-sauce.html
ReplyDeletewow what a lovely bunch of tomatoes! we did not put in a garden because of the move, maybe next year! My sister is sharing her lettuce and that makes me happy.
ReplyDeleteI used to make sauce from fresh tomatoes. Will need to think about trying that again.
ReplyDeleteI often roast cherry tomatoes. I too, think it sweetens them . Good for you. Your efforts can make for a very happy bunch of dinners.
ReplyDeleteOh Yum!!! That looks so delicious, hope you enjoyed your hard work.
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