A Dreaded Job

It is harvest time at my house.  My small yet prolific garden has produced more Roma tomatoes than I can eat in a week.  It is time to take action. It is time to make tomato sauce.

 

I am a pasta-loving person.  I love all kinds of pasta.  I do not think there is any pasta that I will not eat.  My favorite topping for pasta is tomato sauce.  I love garlic and onions fried in cold press olive oil; the green olive oil is my favorite.  I mix slightly caramelized garlic and onions with fresh Roma tomatoes along with fresh basil.  That is all it takes to make a pasta dinner for me.  

 

This weekend I gathered all the ripe Roma tomatoes in my garden, washed, halved, and placed them in a pot over a low heat.  I had time so I sliced eggplant and placed those in a pot to soak in salt water for 4 hours to remove any bitterness eggplant can have.  In the meantime, I chopped up zucchini to make relish.  Harvest time is wonderful.

My husband thought the house smelled funny.  He is a meat kind of guy, while I am all veggies.  The liquid for the relish smelled of all the spices and vinegar.  He did not appreciate that smell.  I liked the house smelling of tomatoes, basil and relish spices.  Though I admit it did make our smoke detector shrill through the house, must have been all the aromas. 

Once the tomatoes were cooked and I stirred them for several minutes, I began to think.  I like fresh Roma tomatoes over pasta.  I do not remove the skins; I eat the skins.  Why can’t I use my submersible blender and see if it will make a smooth sauce?  Well, it worked.

I did not have to strain out the tomato seeds.  I did not have to play with all those tomato skins.  I am not a tidy cook.  I cook big and messy.  My kitchen mess from making 4 quarters of tomato sauce was minimal thank s to the submersible blender.  My experiment turned out terrific. 

 

This year, in the middle of winter when the snow is on the ground, I will pull out a jar of my sauce made from my fresh as sunshine Roma tomatoes, which was rather easy to make, pour it over a plate of pasta and manga.