Once the summer temperatures finally reach their peak, I know I can expect our local farmer’s market to be overflowing with beautiful vegetables, fruit, flowers, cheese . . . and people. The growing season is short in Wisconsin, and it seems like everyone counts the days until this point since the wave of produce and people tend to converge on the center of town on the same weekend. Get to the farmer’s market early or you’re going to have to make do with the scraps.
Our strategy at the market is pretty straightforward: get to our favorite stands first to nab the best selection of the two to three things we absolutely want to get, then spend the rest of our time strolling through the market to see what else looks good. In mid July, it’s the tomato lady first so I can get a good ten to 15 pounds of Romas for roasting. If the tomatoes look especially good and I’m feeling ambitious, I’ll take everything she has.
An offshoot of our weekly farmer’s market ritual, roasting tomatoes for sauce has become an event of its own. Most weekends I spend either Saturday or Sunday afternoon filling the house with the irresistible scent of tomatoes, garlic, onions and herbs, then freezing the results so that we can enjoy this little piece of summer all through the winter. It’s a simple recipe, but the preparation can be putzy, as my mother would say, if you’re using larger tomatoes. But once the tomatoes are in the oven, they just stay there for three hours, leaving me time to putter through the house doing other things.
I prefer Romas for this recipe because their meaty texture holds up well to the roasting process and they caramelize nicely. Honestly, though, I have used all different kinds of tomatoes from cherry to beefsteak and had nice results. If your tomatoes taste more acidic, you may want to add sugar to the mixture when you’re turning the roasted tomatoes into sauce. If you are using a thinner, less meaty tomato, either leave them whole (as with cherry tomatoes) or reduce the temperature (as with beefsteak or other tomatoes) to keep them from burning. And enjoy playing with different combinations of flavors, both when roasting and when creating the sauce. The roasted tomatoes make an excellent foundation for many different dishes.
Ingredients:
Olive oil
10-15 pounds fresh Roma tomatoes
1 large or 2 small onions, roughly chopped
8 cloves fresh garlic, smashed, peeled, and roughly chopped
¼ cup chopped fresh herbs (basil, oregano, thyme, chives)
Salt & pepper to taste
Prepare 2-3 glass lasagna pans by drizzling 2-3 tsp of olive oil in each and tilting the pan to spread it. Preheat oven to 300° F.
Wash tomatoes and drain. If the tomatoes are 2” or less in length, leave them whole and spread them in a single layer in the pans. If they are larger, slice them in half, scoop out the seeds, and place them cut-side up in the pans. Sprinkle salt and pepper over the tomatoes.
Scatter the onions, garlic and herbs evenly over the tomatoes. Drizzle olive oil lightly over the top. If you are using whole tomatoes, you can toss the whole mixture with your fingers to mix well; for halved tomatoes, leave the “layered” mixture intact.
Roast tomatoes for three hours uncovered. Browning is good, even deep browning, but burning is not, so monitor the tomatoes’ progress and adjust the temperature downward if needed.
Remove the tomatoes from the oven and allow to cool on the stovetop.
Decision point 1: Freeze whole or puree first?
Freeze some of the tomatoes whole in a freezer bag if you like to toss a few of them into another dish (e.g., risotto) to add color and flavor.
Use a food processor to chop to desired consistency if you would like to use the tomatoes for sauce. Include the garlic and onions when you chop. Proceed to Decision Point 2 to create your sauce, or freeze into portion-sized containers for future use.
Decision point 2: What kind of sauce to make? Here are two options:
Rich tomato sauce: Pour chopped tomato mixture into a heavy saucepan and heat over a medium flame. Stir in vegetable broth, chicken stock or white wine to thin to desired sauce consistency (I use about ½ cup of liquid). Stir in 2-3 tsp balsamic vinegar, and add salt, pepper, and additional herbs to taste. Serve over pasta, use as a base for lasagna or pizza, or whatever suits your mood.
Tomato & Italian sausage sauce: Brown 1 lb. of Italian sausage in a pan. Add ½ cup diced onion and 1 diced bell pepper and sauté until onions are translucent. Pour tomato mixture over the top, adding 1-2 tsp balsamic vinegar and stirring well. If the mixture is too thick, add some liquid (white wine or broth) to thin to desired consistency. Serve over pasta.
Enjoy!
How do you use your roasted tomatoes? Let me know at pythiallc@yahoo.com.
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