Tomatoes
This past spring we planted a few different varieties of tomatoes. I plant tomatoes almost solely to turn them into sauce or salsa, while Mike loves fresh tomatoes on sandwiches, salads, and tacos. Because of this we had to plant kinds that would suit both of our needs. We picked an heirloom variety that looked promising, some romas, and an all purpose grocery-store looking tomato. We transplanted about 20 plants and have been crossing our fingers that we will get a good yield this year. All of the tomatoes so far have been tasty, but that heirloom tomato, whose name escapes me at the moment, has been the favorite of both of us. They mature to the size of a beefsteak tomato, but it has the flesh of a roma. It makes it great on sandwiches and in sauce. And it's cute! We're going to plant more of those next year and totally scrap the "grocery store" tomato.
Last year we had a lot of tomatoes, but not as many as we would have liked. Thus far, our tomato crop is turning out to be quite a bit larger than last year. I've been canning a lot of tomatoes the last few weeks. And it's been glorious.
Last weekend after spending a good eight hours roasting and canning tomatoes, I sighed and told Mike how happy I was that we finally had tomatoes after waiting so long for them. He laughed at me and told me he had at just that moment come to ask me if I was sick of tomatoes yet. While the canning is a little tedious, it's hard to get tired of how amazing our house smells while I'm roasting tomatoes. This smell, coupled with the smell of my home made tomato sauce will always remind me of summer in this house. I'm already getting nostalgic about it.
I don't do anything fancy. Just halve or quarter the tomatoes, depending on their size, add a few unpeeled cloves of garlic, drizzle with olive oil, and a sprinkling of salt and pepper and roast in a low oven (I've done anywhere from 200-300 depending on how much time I had) for as long as I can stand it. Then I either can them whole or puree them into sauce.
The sauce, with the pureed roasted garlic, is almost perfect as is. But if you put it on the stove for a long simmer with some basil, onion, and a little balsamic vinegar, it's divine. I don't normally sully my tomato sauce with meat, call me a purist, but I'm sure it would taste pretty good that way too.
Last year we had a lot of tomatoes, but not as many as we would have liked. Thus far, our tomato crop is turning out to be quite a bit larger than last year. I've been canning a lot of tomatoes the last few weeks. And it's been glorious.
Last weekend after spending a good eight hours roasting and canning tomatoes, I sighed and told Mike how happy I was that we finally had tomatoes after waiting so long for them. He laughed at me and told me he had at just that moment come to ask me if I was sick of tomatoes yet. While the canning is a little tedious, it's hard to get tired of how amazing our house smells while I'm roasting tomatoes. This smell, coupled with the smell of my home made tomato sauce will always remind me of summer in this house. I'm already getting nostalgic about it.
I don't do anything fancy. Just halve or quarter the tomatoes, depending on their size, add a few unpeeled cloves of garlic, drizzle with olive oil, and a sprinkling of salt and pepper and roast in a low oven (I've done anywhere from 200-300 depending on how much time I had) for as long as I can stand it. Then I either can them whole or puree them into sauce.
The sauce, with the pureed roasted garlic, is almost perfect as is. But if you put it on the stove for a long simmer with some basil, onion, and a little balsamic vinegar, it's divine. I don't normally sully my tomato sauce with meat, call me a purist, but I'm sure it would taste pretty good that way too.