Meatless Monday - Quick Tomato Sauce and Pappardelle

Recently I put up a few pints of Marinara sauce, and in the past I’ve made rich dark “gravy” thick with meat that sat burbling  for hours on a cold winter day.  I love the rich dark silky sauce and I will never tire of it.  

However, this is the time of being flush with tomatoes. With more than I can eat on salads,  have time to can, or find any victims to take them off my hands.

As opposed to the patient and sophisticated deep bass notes of a long simmered sauce, this sauce is brassy, loud and fresh as nineteen-year-old sailor on his first shore leave after three months at sea. 

Add a handful of pungent basil fresh from the garden, a sprig of oregano and a couple cloves of garlic roughly chopped and you have the makings of a quickly prepared, brightly flavored weeknight meal.

No careful measuring here, this is cooking by the seat of your pants, Pinot Noir in a coffee cup, roll up your sleeves, put Sinatra on the music player. Add a salad and enjoy! 

Ingredients:

1lb ripe tomatoes cored and roughly chopped

2 cloves garlic crushed then chopped

1 ripe jalapeno minced (optional)

Pinch crushed red pepper (optional)

1 handful fresh basil leaves – about a dozen - shredded or chiffonade

1 sprig fresh oregano

2-3 tablespoons olive oil

Big pinch salt

¼ cup gated parmesan divided

½ cup + of cooking water

Salt and pepper to taste

½ lb dried long pasta – I prefer Tagliatelle or Pappardelle

Directions:

Prepare  pasta according to directions

While water comes to a boil and pasta cooks…

In a large saucepan over medium high heat, add the olive oil and heat until shimmering

Add the chopped tomatoes, (jalapeno and red pepper) and toss to coat with oil,  add big pinch of salt

Cook, stirring often until tomatoes soften – about 3-5 minutes

Add garlic, basil and oregano, stir and turn heat down to medium

Continue cooking and stirring often until sauce starts to thicken, reduce heat to medium low

When pasta is just about cooked remove from cooking water and add to tomato mixture. Add ½ + cup of cooking water (add more or less according to how much liquid you want)  and combine, tossng until pasta is done.

Test for seasoning, adjust salt and pepper to taste.

Put sauced pasta in a bowl, top with parmesan, enjoy!

 

Until next time, Eat Well & Keep Digging!

The Gastronomic Gardener
Garden blog http://amidwestgarden.blogspot.com/
Cooking blog http://ihopeyouarehungry.blogspot.com/
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Canned Marinara

The Romas are finally starting to come in, but there is not enough for a huge batch of sauce. I did however find a recipe for Marinara that only calls of 8lbs of tomatoes.

*If you are not comfortable canning this, you could always freeze it.

Let's give it a go...


Makes 4+ pints

Ingredients:

8 lbs. ripe Roma (plum) tomatoes

1-1/3 cups onions, finely minced

2/3 cup celery, finely minced

3 cloves garlic finely minced

1-1/3 cups carrots finely minced

2/3 cup olive oil

1-1/4 teaspoon sugar

1/8 teaspoon black pepper

1 tablespoon dried basil

1 teaspoon dried oregano

Salt to taste

Directions:

Prepare 4 glass pint canning jars, lids and bands

Peel Tomatoes

Drop tomatoes into boiling water, a few at a time.
Let the water return to a boil, then remove the tomatoes and drain. Peel and chop.

In a large pot, cook the onion, garlic, celery, and carrots in the olive oil, covered over medium-low heat for about 15 minutes, stirring a few times.

Uncover and stir over heat for 5-10 minutes longer, or until the vegetables are very soft and a little gold.

Add the tomatoes, sugar, and pepper and simmer gently, covered for 15 minutes.

Puree the sauce through the medium disc of food mill. You could used a food processor and run through a fine colander

Return to pot, add basil and oregano,  cook at a simmer until desired consistency is reached, about 20-40 minutes, stirring often.

Add salt to taste. If you prefer a smooth sauce, work the sauce through the fine disc of a food mill.  

Ladle hot sauce into prepared hot jars leaving 1/2 inch headspace.
Remove air bubbles.

Wipe rim.

Center hot lid on jar. Apply band and adjust until finger tight.

Process jars in a boiling water canner for 35 minutes, adjusting for altitude.

Remove jars and cool. Use in the dead of winter, think of the warmer months, and smile!

Until next time, Eat Well & Keep Digging!


The Gastronomic Gardener
Garden blog http://amidwestgarden.blogspot.com/
Cooking blog http://ihopeyouarehungry.blogspot.com/
Twitter - @gastrogardener
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email: thegastronomicgardener at gmail dot com

Meatless Monday - "Ratatouille" Panini

This time of year is great with all the produce in the garden or farmers market. One of my favorite things to make is ratatouille, that delicious vegetable stew featuring eggplant, zucchini, and tomatoes.

I had picked up some nice bread at the market, and thought, why not use those same flavors and make a sandwich, a toasted sandwich. A Ratatouille Panini!

Here in the States panini is used to denote a grilled sandwich, but the word comes from the Italian panino, meaning little roll. Panini is the plural form. So while the word is bastardized here in North America, it conjures an image of toasty crusty crunchy deliciousness. And when the stars of the sandwich come from your own garden? Well, it is only so much the better! I won't give exact measurements since I don't know how big you want your sandwich, and, being a sandwich it is a highly flexible "recipe." See what's fresh and take it from there!

Here's what I did.


Ingredients:
Good bread
2-3 Tomatoes sliced 1/3" thick
Eggplant sliced into rounds
Zucchini sliced into rounds
Bell pepper, preferably red or yellow sliced into sections
2 Garlic bulbs, separated into cloves and peeled
olive oil
Herbs de Provence
salt
softened goat cheese (optional)
Rosemary sprigs (optional)

Directions:
In a small sauce pan add garlic cloves and rosemary. Add enough olive oil to cover. Cook over very low heat, don't boil. Simmer for about an hour. When the garlic cloves are very tender, remove from heat and let cool.

While garlic poaches, prepare the vegetables.

Preheat oven to 225-250F.

Put cut vegetables on cooling rack over a cookie sheet, sprinkle eggplant and zucchini with salt to draw out moisture. Allow to sit for 30 minutes, blot moisture with paper towel. Turn the vegetables over and repeat the process.

Sprinkle the vegetables with the Herbs de Provence.

Put vegetables in slow oven until tender and slightly dry. Check at 1 hour, then every 30 minutes after that.

Here's what I had after the slow roasting.

I have and used a panini press but you could use a ribbed skillet or even a grill outdoors. Work with what you have.

Remove the garlic cloves from the oil.

Grill the vegetables (except the tomatoes, they will bee too delicate) brushing with the garlic infused oil.

Assemble the sandwich.  Smear the tender garlic onto one side of one of the pieces of bread.  Smear the other piece with the goat cheese. These are the inside part of the sandwich.

Layer the vegetables onto one of the pieces of bread.

Put the other piece of bread on top. Brush the top with a generous amount of the garlic infused oil. Put the  sandwich oiled side down on the panini press or skillet or whatever you are using. Oil the other side.

Grill until toasty and starting to char in spots.  Remove from press and allow to cool slightly before cutting in two. This  served two.

It was absolutely delicous, crunchy bread, tender vegetables, the garlic mellowed by poaching. A perfect summer dinner.

What vegetables do you have on hand?

Until next time, Eat Well & Keep Digging!


The Gastronomic Gardener
Garden blog http://amidwestgarden.blogspot.com/
Cooking blog http://ihopeyouarehungry.blogspot.com/
Twitter - @gastrogardener
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email: thegastronomicgardener at gmail dot com

Meatless Monday - Polenta and Red Sauce with Mushrooms and Onions

Another Meatless Monday, and what's on hand?  Cornmeal, tomato sauce I canned in August, mushrooms, onions and decent Parmesan cheese. Not great cheese just decent.

This recipe is adapted from Allrecipes.com.

Polenta Ingredients:
2 cups milk
2 cups chicken stock
1 cup coarse yellow cornmeal
1 cup Parmesan cheese

Red Sauce Ingredients:
2 cups spaghetti sauce, OR
2 Cups home canned tomato sauce
1/2 diced onion
1 cup  rough chopped mushrooms
1 tbs olive oil
1 tbs sugar
1 tbs dried basil
1/2 tbs dried oregano
Salt and Pepper

Preheat oven to 350F.

Grease a 9" square baking dish.

In a large pot, combine the milk and chicken stock.

Bring to a boil over medium-high heat.

While milk stock mixture is heating, add 1 tbs olive oil to sauce pan over medium high heat. Add onions and mushrooms and a pinch of salt.

Saute until vegetables are soft but not browned.

Add tomato sauce, sugar, basil, and oregano.

Reduce heat to medium low and simmer, stirring occasionally.

When milk / stock mixture is at a rolling boil,

gradually whisk in the cornmeal, making sure there are no lumps.

Reduce heat to low and simmer, stirring constantly until thick, about 5 minutes.

Remove from the heat and stir in the Parmesan cheese.

Pour the polenta into the prepared baking dish.

Bake for 15 minutes in the preheated oven, or until polenta is set and no long runny. It may be a little loose but you don't want it runny.

Check red sauce for seasoning and adjust salt and pepper.

Cut polenta into quarters and top with sauce and a little more Parmesan.

Serve hot.

It's creamy, rich and satisfying.

Until next time, Eat Well & Keep Digging!


The Gastronomic Gardener
Garden blog http://amidwestgarden.blogspot.com/
Cooking blog http://ihopeyouarehungry.blogspot.com/
Twitter - www.twitter.com/DavidPOffutt
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