Eating October in December

Part 2

Tomatoes, tomatoes, tomatoes...

Yesterday, I took on the problem of old squash. Today I'll address the more universal problem of the tomato glut of early fall.

I usually plant too many Italian plum tomato plants, but I expect to freeze their fruit for the winter, so don't worry too much when my counter is covered with red orbs come the end of October. In the past I've made sauce and froze it and roasted halved tomatoes and froze them, but the fall produce season usually produces a glut of produce and not enough time to process it all. Over the years I've fallen into taking the easiest and least time-consuming way of dealing with all the tomatoes, a tip given to me years ago by a woman who had ten kids. (Note: Always listen to tips given by women who have ten children. They have learned how to become incredibly efficient in most areas of their lives, especially in the area of food storage and preparation.) This woman would pick and wash her tomatoes, cut out the stem end of each tomato and freeze them as is in freezer bags or plastic storage containers. I started doing this just to get the tomatoes off my counter before November. I also found that a frozen tomato, with a hole cut in the stem end, could easily be skinned by dipping the tomato in some lukewarm water for a minute and simply squeezing the tomato out of the skin. The remaining frozen orb could be thawed slightly, chopped and then thrown in soups or stews or chili. My favorite use of the frozen tomatoes in my freezer, however, is for a roasted tomato sauce. Below is the recipe. I just take the desired amount of frozen tomatoes out of the freezer, usually enough to cover the bottom of a roasting pan, put them in a bowl of lukewarm tap water, slip them out of their skins and put them into the roasting pan. Then follow this recipe:

Roasted Tomato Sauce

Desired amount of skinned, frozen plum tomatoes, enough to cover the bottom of a 13” x 9” roasting pan

2 - 4 cloves garlic, chopped

4 tablespoons olive oil

½ teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

oregano and/or basil (optional)

Preheat oven to 425°. Put skinned, frozen tomatoes into a 13” x 9” baking pan. Add garlic, salt and pepper. Drizzle with olive oil. Roast until sauce is thick and jammy, about 40 - 60 minutes (sometimes longer if the tomatoes are very juicy). The consistency should be thick and saucy, but not dry. Add oregano and/or basil during the last ten minutes of roasting, if desired. Toss with pasta or use as a sauce on pizza.

This sauce is easy and really tastes like summer. 

 

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About that 20-inch zucchini I mentioned yesterday?...well, I hacked off a piece of it, skinned it, cut out the seed area, thinly sliced it and popped it into the sausage tortellini soup I made for Christmas Eve (which also contained some of the skinned frozen tomatoes). No one knew I was serving them two month old zucchini. I think I'll shred the remaining piece and make a batch or two of mini-loaves of zucchini bread for the freezer...to keep the rest of the frozen tomatoes company...

If more of us valued food and cheer and song above hoarded gold,

it would be a merrier world. - J.R.R. Tolkien