Busy and Fresh Pasta Sauce Two Ways

My posting has been a bit sporadic lately. This is all due to one thing:

My garden has exploded. 

Everyday, she (yes, my garden is a she) presents me with baskets full of tomatoes, eggplant, cucumbers, yellow squash and zucchini. 

You would think that I would be overjoyed at these gifts. After months of seed coaxing, seedling planting, staking, weeding and watering, the fruits of my labor are now on my table... everyday:

 

But the sad truth is, I can't keep up. I have given away, frozen, canned, eaten, mashed and blanched myself into a dither. 

It doesn't help that I also have a habit of visiting every farm stand within a 50 mile radius of my home. I can't help it. I'm a sucker for any locally grown fruit and vegetable. Peaches, blueberries, corn, melons... oh my! 

I know the way Mother Nature works though. Just when I'm about to say "uncle".. my garden will stop producing. The road side stands will fill up with apples and pumpkins and then slowly close their doors until next year. 

So for now, I hole up in my kitchen, in 95 degree weather and can and freeze and blanche and cook and eat my way through this glorious season of plenty. 

Fresh Tomato Sauce Two Ways (one for eating, one for freezing)

Recipe #1

4 to 5 ripe tomatoes (I used plum and yellow because that's what I had)

2 cloves of garlic, minced

1 cup shredded zucchini (optional)

1/4 cup fresh basil, sliced (chiffonade)

1/4 cup freshly grated (very small) parmesan cheese

2 tablespoons tomato paste

salt and pepper

olive oil

Blanch the tomatoes in boiling, salted water until the skins split (about 2 minutes) Remove to a bowl to cool enough to handle. 

Working over a large bowl to catch the juices, slip the skins off. Using a small paring knife, dice the tomatoes, throwing away the seeds. Squeeze the tomatoes with your hands to slightly crush. 

In a large pot, drizzle in some olive oil and saute the garlic just until fragrant. Add the crushed, diced tomatoes and zucchini* and bring to a boil. Turn down to a simmer. Add tomato paste, basil, parmesan cheese and salt and pepper to taste. Simmer for another 5 minutes or so. 

This simple sauce is ready to eat right now on some pasta. Leave it chunky and serve hot. Pass crusty bread on the side. 

Recipe#2:

Follow all of the steps above. After simmering, spoon the sauce (in batches) into a blender, puree. Be careful to put a kitchen towel over the top of the blender and hold the lid down. Don't fill it more than 1/3 full. Blend in batches until smooth. 

Pack into very clean, hot mason jars, allow to cool, put lids on and freeze. Remember to give your jars at least 3/4 inch head room. The sauce will expand when frozen and you don't want any broken jars in your freezer. You can also let the sauce cool and freeze in ziploc bags or any container you wish. 

When you defrost this sauce around January, you will get a taste of summer that will have you browsing seed catalogs all over again. 

Anyone out there having the same "problem"? I'd love to hear what you are doing with your excess garden output.. 

Don't have a garden? Don't forget your local farmers. They work all year to bring you the very best from their fields... why not pick up a bushel of tomatoes and make this sauce? I guarantee come January and February, you'll be glad you did! 

* A Cook's Notes: I like to sneak a little zucchini in my sauce. No one will be the wiser, you'll get the extra nutrient kick AND use up some of those squashes that seem to grow overnight! 

Bounty and Pasta with Fresh Tomatoes and Herbs

Everywhere I go these days I am reminded of the bounty of the season. 

Road side stands are bursting with tomatoes, melons, corn, peaches, squashes and berries of all variety.

My own garden has been gifting me daily with all manner of produce. 

The tiny plants and seeds I set out a few months ago are now large and heavy with produce. 

This has shifted my cooking focus from French, Italian and Bistro to: what can I make with with all this stuff before I have to can, freeze or give it away?

The following pasta recipe is quick, healthy and beautiful when plated. An added benefit is that it won't heat up your kitchen in these dog days of August.  I think you'll enjoy, 

Penne with Fresh Tomatoes and Herbs: serves 4

1 pound penne or cavatelli pasta

1 pound tomatoes - any variety, preferably homegrown or farm bought. (I used a combination of red and yellow grape tomatoes because that's what I had the most of)

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 tablespoons fresh herbs, minced (rosemary, parsley and thyme work well together)

3 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

Freshly grated Parmesan for passing

Set your pot to boiling for the pasta. Add salt to the boiling water and cook according to manufacturer's suggestion. 

Meanwhile, warm the olive oil in a small saute pan. When oil is hot, add garlic and saute just until aromatic. Turn off heat and add  1/2 the fresh herbs, set aside. 

Seed and dice your tomatoes over a small bowl to catch the juices. (discard seeds, add diced tomatoes to bowl) Add fresh herbs and balsamic vinegar. Toss to coat. Season with salt and pepper to taste. 

Drain pasta, Toss with garlic, herb and olive oil mixture. 

Plate pasta and pass tomato, herb and vinegar combo to top pasta with. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese and enjoy! 

Simple, colorful and all about the bounty of the season. 

A Cook's Notes: This is a great, light vegetarian meal. If you are feeding hungry teenage boys they will not be amused. I added a Caesar salad and barbecued chicken breast to their plates and they were duly sated (for a few hours anyway) 

Bolognese Sauce & My Purse

I had to go the grocery store this morning to buy a few items for a Bolognese Sauce I want to make today. Just a few things, like tomatoes, a fresh hunk of parmesan cheese. All the other ingredients I already have, including some lovely Pappardelle Pasta. 

I have this trick I do with my purse when I go grocery shopping and I'll tell you about it, but first you have to know some things about my purse. Number one thing is it's big. It's a big leather brown shoulder purse that I paid way too much for about 5 years ago. I keep alot of things in my purse, so it's not only big, it's heavy. Ask anyone who has ever had to hold my purse (as in here, could you hold this a minute?) or hand me my purse (as in, could you hand me my purse?). My purse is so heavy that I don't like to carry it for long. When I go grocery shopping I put it in the baby seat of the cart. Now I know that's not safe, because everyone knows thieves hang out in grocery stores just waiting to snatch women's purses from baby seats while the unwitting women are squeezing the tomatoes - that's where my trick comes in. 

This morning my purse felt exceptionally heavy. Heavier than most days. After a quick inventory of its contents, I discovered why. Here's a quick list of my purses contents, I'm reasonably sure that I could survive (along with my family of five) for at least a year on the contents of my purse:

1. Wallet containing credit and debit cards, coupons, 47 cents, pictures k through 12 of all 4 children, pictures of both granddaughters, engagement picture of son and daughter-in-law, insurance cards, drivers license, PADI C-card (in case I need to go scuba diving at a moment's notice), at least 8 "store" cards - like PetSmart, Drug Fair, Macy's, etc.) prescription slips, mac receipts never given to my husband, dog's rabies vaccination tag, current dog license, dog license from deceased dog, health insurance card, cell phone cheat sheet, various receipts from clothing stores, life-time weight watcher membership from 1990, weight watcher pound counter from 1990.
   
2. Pens
   
3. Notepad
4. dog treats
5. gum
6. nutrigrain bar
7. breath mints
8. cell phone
9. cell phone charger
10. blue tooth ear thing that I never figured out how to work
11. makeup
12. comb
13. hairbrush
14. band aids
15. prescriptions (1 week supply for everyone in the house)
16. tampons
17. pads with wings (my daughter likes the ones with wings)
18. tissues
19. bottle opener (hey, you never know)
20. cork screw (ditto)
21. keys to every house I ever lived in
22. car keys
23. toothpicks
24. chapstick
25. matches
26. mirror
27. thing that cuts your seatbelt and breaks your window if you drive into a lake
28. small flashlight
29. reading glasses that I bought at the drug store for $5.00
30. tylenol
31. pepcid ac
32. motrin
33. vitamins
34. lactaid (husband is lactose intolerant and you never know when you are going to eat cheese)
35. business cards (mine and others of people I don't know or can't remember)
36. Clie (pda)
37. Old dog collar (again, you never know)
38. Cold medicine (sniff)
39. perfume
40. hand cream

At least that's what is at the top of my purse. I'm a little frightened about reaching into the depths of it. I think the extra weight is from the recently added puppy biscuits. Anyway, when I put my heavy purse in the baby seat compartment of the grocery cart, to thwart any attempt by thieves with a hand cart or fork lift trying to steal my purse while I'm squeezing a melon, I hook the little baby restraint straps through the straps of my purse and click. Viola! Instant purse lock. Clever right? or maybe I should just clean out my purse - but what would we do in the event of an emergency??

BOLOGNESE SAUCE: serves 6

One stalk celery, diced

One medium spanish onion, diced

1 medium carrot, peeled and diced

2 large garlic cloves, minced

2 teaspoons olive oil

2 teaspoons unsalted butter 

This makes up your soffritto or in french, your mire pore. The basis of all stocks and sauces. Think flavor, flavor, flavor. 

1 pound ground beef

1 teaspoon flour

3 teaspoons tomato paste

1/2 cup beef stock

1/2 cup red wine

14 ounces canned (or fresh) chopped tomatoes with juices

nutmeg, salt and pepper

1 pound pasta of choice

fresh Parmesan for top.

Saute your soffrito ingredients over low heat until nice and soft. Add the garlic last to keep from burning. When the soffritto is soft and fragrant, add: 1 pound ground beef

Cook until beef is cooked through, then sprinkle flour over beef. Add the tomato paste, beef stock, wine and tomatoes and bring to simmer. Grate a good 8 gratings of nutmeg over top. Season lightly with salt and pepper. Partially cover and simmer for 1 hour - stirring every 15 minutes or so to insure sauce is not sticking to bottom of pot. 

Adjust your seasonings. 

Make your pasta.

Serve with italian bread and pass the parmesan.

Now eat, you'll need your strength in case I ask you to hold my purse.