Category: Tomatoes-Tomatillos

There is nothing better than a fresh tomato sauce, and this week you are getting tomatoes and basil in your CSA share. You could make this!
No long slow cooking needed when the tomatoes are this fresh. This is so simple and quick.

You only need a few ingredients.
A couple of beautiful tomatoes
An onion, shallot, or leek. My onion was kind of yucky on one side so I used 1/2 an onion
Some garlic, olive oil, and a handful of basil.

Cut up your vegetables

Add them to a hot pan in this order;
olive oil
onions
garlic
tomatoes
basil

Cook the onions until they are soft then add the garlic. The garlic can get bitter if you add it with the onions.

When the onions are soft add the tomatoes

Cook that down until the tomatoes collapse.

Toss in a handful of basil.

Done.
This is great on polenta and grilled vegetables. I’ll use about 1/2 of this for some eggplant rolls. That is a separate blog.
Enjoy the tomatoes this week!

Here are 5 pounds of tomato seconds.

I think I’ll use the garlic and pepper from this week’s share in my sauce. You can do that too or just use tomatoes. I added an onion from last week’s share in my sauce too.

Core and roughly cut everything up and put it on a baking sheet that will hold it all. You might use 2 9X13 baking pans.

Now pour olive oil and balsamic vinegar over the whole thing.

And mix it all up with salt and pepper and any herbs you have in your garden and put that in a preheated 450°F oven to roast for at least 45 minutes and up to an hour.

It should look something like this when it is done roasting. There is a lot of liquid so be careful removing it from you oven.

Roasting caramelizes sugars and condenses flavors, you can almost see that here.

I dump everything into a bowl and fish out the woody and too charred herbs and throw them away. Then I hit the roasted tomato mixture with an immersion blender.

I got just over two quarts of sauce out of my 5 pounds of ‘seconds’ tomatoes.

When life gives you seconds, make something second to none.

*Adapted from Cook’s Illustrated

• 1 1/2 pounds fresh tomatoes, diced
• 1/2 cup red onion (or any onion), diced
• 1 jalapeno pepper, diced (removing the seeds and veins will get rid of a lot of the heat, keep them if you like it spicy)
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1/4 cup cilantro, chopped
• 2-6 teaspoons lime juice
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon cumin
• Pinch black pepper

Start by dicing your tomatoes. I had some beautiful heirlooms, including a Green Giant from the Friday harvest.

Put your diced tomatoes in a colander set over a medium-sized bowl, so the juices can drain while you chop everything else. You can either leave your salsa chunky or run it through your blender for a smooth version. If you are planning on blending your salsa (which I did), don’t worry about chopping things too perfectly.

Next, chop your garlic, jalapeno, cilantro and onion and layer on top of your tomatoes in the colander.

I used about half of a Red Wagon jalapeno with the seeds and veins. You can either remove the seeds and veins for a little less heat, or leave them in to turn it up a notch. Either way, be forewarned, our jalapenos definitely pack a punch.

Once you think enough juice has drained from your tomatoes (15 minutes was fine for me), you can empty the bowl and add your chunky vegetables. Next add your lime juice, salt, cumin, and pepper and blend until smooth or leave it chunky. This is what mine looked like when it was finished.

Homemade Tortilla Chips

Just for fun, we made our own tortilla chips to go with the salsa. I realize this doesn’t involve any of your CSA veggies, but it’s really fun and tasty!

Heat some oil in a deep skillet over medium-high heat. The exact temperature isn’t that important, just make sure it isn’t going to burn your chips. While your oil is heating up, take some nice corn tortillas and cut them into quarters.

Fry them in oil, flipping a few times, until they are bubbly and a nice golden brown. Don’t overcrowd your skillet.

Remove the chips from the oil and drain on paper towels. Sprinkle with a little salt, and voila! Happy munching.

– Maddie