But you can't say that about me now!
I have friends, blog-reading friends, and adamant strangers tell me that (especially as an Italian) I should be loaded into a cannon and shot straight into hell for not making my sauce from scratch every week. Maybe they're right. But how do you sustain this 100% of the time? Humbly and truly, I just do not get it. The sauce I was taught to make comes from canned tomatoes. That's not really "from scratch." (Maybe that's what some of these people mean, as opposed to jar sauce. Well, if that's what they mean, then THEY'RE not making sauce from scratch, either.) Anyway, that's all I've ever done: either dad's sauce or marinara from canned tomatoes, or a good jar sauce when in a hurry, sick, or hung-over. (I know, I know. But don't throw your tomatoes. Save them for sauce!)
Here's what happened. Ma came to visit, and brought (sorry Ma) a SHIT-ton of beautiful, fresh tomatoes and a lorry-load of okra. What I usually do with tomatoes from her garden is grab a salt shaker, slice, and eat. But this was more than we could have gotten through before the fully ripe beauties went bad. We ate our fill (she, Chris and I) at every meal, and I still had a ton left when she left. So I called my brother and said, "How the hell do I do this?" He said to wash up the tomatoes (natch) and to dip them for a minute or two in boiling water. Then you could peel off the skin, and seed them. These garden tomatoes were so ripe, I just had to run them under hot tap water. I peeled off the skin, split them open in my hands, and scooped out the seeds with my fingers. I set them all aside in a bowl.
I heated a deep skillet with some olive oil, then heated some garlic in it. I finely diced as much onion as I wanted in it, then heated that. I added some "baby bellos," (small portobello mushrooms), and sweated those. Then I added the tomatoes, as much fresh oregano and basil as I thought proper, and some red wine. I kept letting it cook down, adding salt, pepper and about a bit of sugar as I went (it cuts the acid). I just kept tasting it, and soon it was definitely sauce. Whoopee! The bellos are optional, and I like to add a bit of red pepper flakes, but if you don't care for a spicier sauce, you could leave that out, too. You could add green pepper but... guh. Not for this kid.
I had plenty of sauce left over for pizza and pasta throughout the week, so perhaps if I ever get a deep freeze and the garden going next year, I can make enough over a summer to ALWAYS make my sauce from scratch (or at least defrost it that way).
Looks FAB, honey! I feel very proud of myself when I make my marinara ala canned crushed tomatoes, so you will never get a whiff of judgment from me! I LOVE fresh tomatoes though...wish I could have been there to help you eat your Ma's. My favorite is to slice them on to toasted bread with a light layer of mayo, salt and pepper...most of the sandwich should be tomato, not bread. Yum. My mom and dad's tomatoes still have a few weeks to go so you have filled me with anticipation! If you ever go victory garden on me, with the growing and making and canning and what not, you would have the perfect Christmas present for me, pretty much forever. :)
ReplyDeleteBrooke
It is not a good growing season for tomatoes out west! I do admit that I use canned tomatoes. But to actually crack open a jar of Prego or Ragu, that's considered a mortal sin in my family. Besides, I can taste the corn syrup! :)
ReplyDeleteI hope all is well with the pregnancy and such!
Gina - glad you make the marinara from scratch. I rarely do that - but your results look great. I think most people use canned tomatoes too.
ReplyDeleteOne thought though - if you canned those tomatoes in Ball jars and kept them all winter/year - wouldn't you still be making marinara from scratch, but you just took a six month (or so) break in the prep??
Hee hee. C Laz: I know what you mean about the syrup... I won't even buy bread that has it in it (and that's HARD to find), but I actually buy Ragu because it doesn't use it. I like the simplicity of that sauce (taste and ingredients-wise).
ReplyDeleteAnd "dad," I think you are certainly right. I want to get to canning stuff next year. The tomatoes won't happen this year, because I'm just not bendy or heat-tolerant enough to garden right now... I'm keeping busy re-doing the inside of the house, and growing a human this year. :) But next year, I'm gonna start a garden and get me a slew of fresh tomats!
G
Gina, Ilost you somewhere - best of luck on your great arrival coming. Hope this message goes thru. Love, Gr. shirley
ReplyDeleteHi Grandma, don't forget you just have to wait for me to approve your comments before you see them... Be patient and keep commenting!! :) Great to hear from you!
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