Joe & Anna's Amazing Tomato Adventure
Joe and I had the brilliant idea of planting a garden in the corner of our yard this spring. Although we were ambitious in our planning and in our planting, we have been much LESS ambitious with the whole weeding/pruning aspect, and as our result our garden has grown to the point where we enter it with much fear and trepidation. Twice already we have found a furry creature darting in and out among what we used to consider "rows" of parsley, tomatoes, and cucumbers - now the tomatoes have grown into one amorphous mass, the cucumber vines have staged a successful escape from the garden, and the parsley completely dwarfs the rosemary beside it. On both occasions we cornered, and retrived, a baby rabbit that had managed to find its way through the rabbit-proof fence surrounding our garden, but either couldn't or didn't want to leave. Both times Joe considerately tossed the rabbit over the fence, out of reach of our rabbit-crazed beagle.
But all of this is merely a backdrop for the onslaught of tomatoes that is approaching. Today we made an attempt to cut back and pick what we considered to be a "few" of the ripe ones - we came inside with two dozen tomatoes, enough to make a marinara sauce with plenty leftover. While this is indeed exciting, we also feel unprepared for the hit we are about to receive. My Mennonite roots whisper, "Can, dammit, can, you lazy fool. Don't let them waste when you can have cans of stewed tomatoes and tomato sauce in your pantry all winter." My realistic self whimpers pitifully and dreads spending hours sweating over a huge pot of boiling water in our un-air-conditioned kitchen. My resourceful side is listing all of the people I know who might accept ripe tomatoes from my garden.
Tonight, however, marinara sauce was the weapon of choice, and we safely dispensed of a dozen tomatoes in a most tasty manner. Following is the recipe, with a few alterations we made.
4 T. olive oil
5 cloves garlic, minced
1 onion
5 lbs. fresh tomatoes
1 can tomato paste
1/4 cup fresh chopped parsley
1/4 cup fresh chopped basil
2 t. dried oregano
salt, to taste
Heat olive oil in sauce pan and saute' the garlic and onion. Add tomatoes and tomato paste. Bring to boil. Add herbs and reduce heat to medium. Cook 20-30 minutes or longer, stirring occasionally.
But all of this is merely a backdrop for the onslaught of tomatoes that is approaching. Today we made an attempt to cut back and pick what we considered to be a "few" of the ripe ones - we came inside with two dozen tomatoes, enough to make a marinara sauce with plenty leftover. While this is indeed exciting, we also feel unprepared for the hit we are about to receive. My Mennonite roots whisper, "Can, dammit, can, you lazy fool. Don't let them waste when you can have cans of stewed tomatoes and tomato sauce in your pantry all winter." My realistic self whimpers pitifully and dreads spending hours sweating over a huge pot of boiling water in our un-air-conditioned kitchen. My resourceful side is listing all of the people I know who might accept ripe tomatoes from my garden.
Tonight, however, marinara sauce was the weapon of choice, and we safely dispensed of a dozen tomatoes in a most tasty manner. Following is the recipe, with a few alterations we made.
4 T. olive oil
5 cloves garlic, minced
1 onion
5 lbs. fresh tomatoes
1 can tomato paste
1/4 cup fresh chopped parsley
1/4 cup fresh chopped basil
2 t. dried oregano
salt, to taste
Heat olive oil in sauce pan and saute' the garlic and onion. Add tomatoes and tomato paste. Bring to boil. Add herbs and reduce heat to medium. Cook 20-30 minutes or longer, stirring occasionally.
posted by A Knutson at 7:29 PM
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