Tomatoes-a-Plenty

Flush with tomatoes. So flush with tomatoes I had them withering in the fridge. And, no surprise, Wednesday’s CSA box had more of the same. I’ve had cherry tomatoes and plum tomatoes, and heirloom ones. SO many that making tabbouleh and other salads just isn’t enough to stem the tide.

Last night, nestled over kisir (turkish tabbouleh), haloumi, and sautéed mushrooms I contemplated my fate. I had to figure out some way to consume 7,000 pounds of tomatoes (only a slight exaggeration) or resign myself to being part of the American masses that throws away a quarter of my food. It was well past 7pm but I had it in my mind to do something.

Call it impulse. Call it meditation. Call it a need to rest my mind in light of all the things that are happening in the world right now that cause me to rage out. Whatever you call it, it involved me humming to myself while I peeled tomatoes and one and a half heads of garlic simmered at low heat in a ½ cup of olive oil 

I peeled, and peeled. No blanching because it was hot and I’m impatient. Instead, I quartered each tomato and with a thin blade started at a corner and pulled down. 45 minutes later I had a full pot. I adapted this recipe from one that a friend sent me a while ago called the four hour tomato sauce. That one calls for half a cup of oil (which I find excessively oily), canned tomatoes instead of fresh, and the water from boiled mushrooms for an extra layer of flavor (I was out of mushrooms).

I made do. 

After simmering the garlic until it was brown and tender (like me!) i poured it into the boiling and dissolving tomatoes with a few pinches of my homemade rosemary salt, and a dollop of tomato paste (maybe a teaspoon). And then I just let it simmer. 

Initially the sauce was watery and I wondered if it would ever reduce. I put it on low heat and went about my evening (namely, baking brownies) and almost forget it was there until I washed my dishes and looked over. The sauce was thicker. More of a pinkish red than the vibrant crimson the canned tomatoes produce (my tomatoes varied in color form yellow to green to red) but it tasted divine.

Into the freezer it went, ready and waiting for me to make lasagna. Maybe next week.