Friday, September 18, 2009

Farm Fresh-Giada-Oliver Marinara


I LOVE TOMATOES! I don't ever remember my mom making marinara sauce from scratch, but she did always add bay leaves and rosemary, which I called "leaves and sticks," and would always pick them out in disgust. She reminded me then that is what brought out the flavor. Now rosemary is my 2nd favorite herb. Tomatoes are almost always accompanied by rosemary in my cooking now (except for Mexican food).

Until recently, we subscribed to a CSA that delivered organic, locally-grown food to our doorstep. Sometimes the tomatoes would arrive fully ripe and ready for eatin' and other times, they needed a few days to ripen.

Sad to say, I didn't always get to them before they were too ripe. But I found this recipe for roasted tomatoes in one of the newsletters we got in our box from Farm Fresh to You. Basically, it is for tomatoes that are too soft to slice for sandwiches and burgers, but before they're moldy!

I do not advocate trying to cook spoiled food to save money. I do advocate using all of the fruits and veggies even if they are "less-than-fresh," which was the case with the tomatoes.

After three attempts to make marinara sauce, I eventually combined several recipes: one from the Farm Fresh newsletter, one from a Jamie Oliver cookbook, and one from the Food Network's Giada De Laurentiss website.

Ingredients:
tomatoes
garlic
basil (fresh is best, but dried will do)
oregano
rosemary (if you use dried, use less than you would if you picked it fresh)
bay leaf
crushed red pepper (or one fresh red pepper)
salt & pepper to taste
yellow onion
white wine
red wine vinegar
olive oil (extra virgin is the tastiest, but you can use light if you have it)

First, cut out the stems and any bruised or ugly spots from the tomatoes. Lightly drizzle olive oil in a baking dish and put in the tomatoes. I smash one garlic clove and stuff into each tomato, but use the garlic at your own discretion. Now sprinkle tomatoes with a bit of white cooking wine, salt & pepper, and a handful of oregano and rosemary. Roast in the oven @ 200 degrees for 8 hours +/- (this is best done at night before you go to bed). The skins should be browned and carmelized by this point.

Take out the tomatoes and let them cool. Carefully spoon the tomatoes, herbs and juices into a food processor or mini-food chopper and blend until they are an even consistency.

In a saucepan, sautee 1/2 c. (about a handful, chopped) of yellow onion, a smashed clove of garlic, and a few tablespoons of olive oil (medium-high heat) until onions are translucent. Add 2 T of crushed red chili peppers (in a pinch, you can use leftover packets from the pizza delivery place). Stir for 5 mins.

Add yummy tomatoes and reduce heat to low.

Stir in 1 T crushed oregano, 1 bay leaf, 1 T crushed black pepper and pinch of salt. (if you like a sweeter marinara, halve the salt and add two Ts sugar or honey). Add 1 t red wine vinegar and a handful (or two!) chopped fresh basil (if you are using dried basil, i would add 2-3 Ts).

Simmer uncovered on low heat for 1 hour, stirring occasionally.

Enjoy!

(note, depending on how many tomatoes you use and how long you simmer, this sauce may be pretty watery. If you prefer, add 1-4 oz. can of tomato paste to thicken it up.)

No comments:

Post a Comment