It is growing season and if you’re like us, some of you are blessed with a bounty of beautiful ripe tomatoes.
I’ve been growing my own tomatoes for 30 years, and for the last three years they have gotten our undivided attention (we retired; they are our hobby).
I like to grow my own as my parents and grandparents did as well. To me the possibility of a natural, sun-ripened tomato is a thing of beauty, and the key ingredient for the most delicious pasta sauce.
The journey begins with your freshly picked, ripened tomatoes. Grab a fresh apron, we’re going to create something truly wonderful. Plan to invite some friends over to help celebrate this party for your taste buds.
Rinse and remove the crowns from your ripe tomatoes. Cut into halves or quarters depending on the size of your tomatoes, pile into a well-oiled roasting pan. (I used vegetable oil spray.)
Drizzle olive oil over the pile of tomatoes and sprinkle a generous teaspoon of sea salt over the top (if you are watching your salt intake, use less or eliminate it entirely).
Toss the tomatoes to lightly coat in olive oil. Preheat your oven to 350.
When the oven has reached the desired temperature, put the roasting pan with tomatoes in for three hours. That’s right, three hours…you are roasting tomatoes.
This method is one of the most flavourful ways to process ripe tomatoes. After three hours, you will notice the full tray has cooked down considerably.
At this point you can fill sterilized jars and prep with a canning bath for future use. You can also fill freezer bags and freeze for future use.
Or you can use it immediately to make a sauce. It’s important you also know that once the tomatoes have been removed from the roaster, the small bits in the roaster can be deglazed with some fresh water or brought it to a boil; scrape the pan on the sides using the same method you would when you’re deglazing a roast.
This is a tomato roast, the liquid you draw up from this pan is a beautiful tomato broth that can be used for multiple different methods. One of my favourites is to use it in place of water when making rice. It is also delicious in soup, over cabbage rolls or anywhere you would use tomato juice.
This liquid can also be reserved in canning jars and given a canning bath, or poured into freezer bags and frozen for later use.
Let’s make some tomato sauce for your dinner party.
Ingredients
Olive oil
2 carrots shredded
2 spines of celery finely chopped
1 large onion minced small
4 large cloves of fresh garlic minced small
Approximately 2.5 cups of the roasted tomatoes
1 tbsp fresh or dried oregano
1 handful of fresh basil, chopped
Mixed Italian seasoning
Pint of fresh cremini mushrooms, sliced
¼ cup sherry or red cooking wine
1 to 2 cups of fresh water and/or tomato broth
Salt and fresh-ground black pepper
Pecorino Romano cheese
Parmigiano cheese
Directions
Put about 3 tbsp of olive oil in a large, heavy saucepan.
Once the oil has reached a medium to high heat add carrot, celery and onion. Stir to coat in the olive oil, lower heat to medium and stir frequently until the vegetables are becoming caramelized. Remove from the heat and add the garlic.
I usually remove anything I’m making from the heat when I’m adding garlic, because it is a delicate bulb; if you burn garlic it ruins your recipe.
Continue to combine the garlic in the carrot, celery, onion mixture; once combined you can add the roasted tomatoes and the sherry, return to the medium heat and continue to stir. Add your seasonings: salt, pepper, oregano, Italian seasonings and basil.
You can add fresh water or tomato broth to thin your sauce and keep it to your desired consistency. Turn your sauce way down low to gently simmer.
Meanwhile, shred your cheeses and slice your mushrooms, mince an extra clove of garlic.
In a heavy frying pan, heat olive oil and add sliced mushrooms. Saute until brown and fragrant, add minced clove of garlic and remove from heat; continue to stir to ensure the garlic doesn’t burn.
Add to your sauce or serve on top of a pasta and sauce dish with the grated cheeses. Serve with Caesar salad, garlic toast and copious amounts of wine.
Finish up with spumoni ice cream and or limoncello! Enjoy!
Mary Mullaney is a qathet Regional District resident and creator/owner of Aprons for Divas.
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