Tomatoes Mean Spaghetti Sauce

Confession:  Our tomatoes are just so-so this year.   So I went to a local place [Reeves Greenhouses, just north of Worthington, In] and got 100 lbs of canning tomatoes.    They were nice ones, too!    I got the boxes of small ones because frankly, I don't care what size they are and I figured those would be the hardest for them to get rid of, so I was happy to take them off their hands.    I paid $10 for 25 lb box, which I thought was a good deal given that I didn't have to grow them or pick them.   I canned 3 boxes and each box netted 14 quarts of plain canned tomatoes.   The final box I saved back to make sauces with.    This year we're making regular spaghetti sauce and Tomato Jam, Claire's favorite ketchup of all time. [Links below].

As it looks like a good year for tomatoes in general, I always advise to get as much as you can afford, can them quickly and easily and then decide what to do with them later.   Plain canned tomatoes are one of the most versatile and healthy things we can store.   And they taste way better than what you get at the store.

I am a lazy tomato canner.   I core them and cut them into big hunks and squash them into jars.   No peeling.   Then I follow the directions from the Ball Blue Book [link in the book list on the sidebar] for canning fresh pack quarts. [1 tsp salt, 2 tablespoons lemon juice, fill with hot water, process 45 minutes in boiling water bath.]  Easy squeezy.

Here are some things I do with my beautiful jars of tomatoes:

• Enchilada Sauce
• Tomato Jam [It's glorified ketchup, but the best darn ketchup you've ever had.]
• Minestrone or a variation thereof.
• Tomasqua [great for a glut of summer squash along with the tomatoes]
• Spaghetti Sauce [below.]

Robin's Spaghetti Sauce
www.rurification.com

• garlic
• onions
• olive oil
• butter
• canned tomatoes
• salt
• dried basil, oregano, thyme and parsley.

Here's my approach to spaghetti sauce.  It's not really a recipe, but more of a process.  I don't measure.  It's always fantastic. It's always easy.   In fact, Claire has taken over making this sauce and hers is even better.   [She won't tell me her secret.]

1.  Slice up some onions and garlic and saute them in olive oil and butter until transparent.
2.  Open a couple of jars of tomatoes or tomasqua and dump it in with the onions.
3.  Cook it down, down, down until it's the consistency you want. 
4.  Add dried oregano [plenty], salt [to taste], basil [plenty], thyme [generous pinch], and parsley [generous pinch].  Stir it well.
5.   Grind it all up in the blender to pulverize the skins and vegetable chunks.   My crew prefers smooth sauce.

For canning:  put into clean jars and cover with clean lids and rings.  Process according to instructions in the Ball Blue Book [link in the book list on the sidebar] or another reputable canning instruction source.

If you want to make a meat sauce, then cook up some ground beef or sausage until it's crumbly and crispy, then add it to the sauce.    [Note:  I do not can meat sauce.]  

Pesto

It's pesto time.

Pesto tastes like early misty sunrises and hot humid walks in the fields.    It makes me happy just thinking about it.

I make pesto with these basic ingredients.  

• basil  [4 cups or so]
• pistachios [1 cup or so, shelled]
• olive oil  [1/4 cup or so]
• garlic [3 cloves or so]
• parmesan cheese [1/2 cup or so]
• parsley [just a touch]

Put it all in a food processor and process until smooth.   

I never make it the same way twice because I never measure.   It's always good.  

Note:  I do not use pine nuts.   I don't really like them very much.   I love pistachios and they have enough salt to help cut the bitter.

Salt cuts bitter.   Did you know that? 

It's true.   Some people put salt in their coffee to cut the bitter.   I don't drink coffee, so I put salt in my pesto to cut the bitter. 

Rumor has it that the best, smoothest pesto happens when you use a mortar and pestle to grind it up.    I will never know because I have no intention of using a mortar and pestle to grind up as much pesto as we eat in a year.

We make pesto all summer and put the extra in jars to freeze.  We eat it on pasta, on green beans, on squash, on tomatoes, on mozzarella cheese and just plain with a spoon. 

Just plain with a spoon is my favorite.