Tomato Week: Raw Fresh Tomato Sauce

Day 3 of 'tomato week' is this simple recipe/non-recipe for raw fresh tomato sauce that I tossed with spinach ravioli (store-bought) and pearl-sized mozzarella balls for a quick easy side dish with grilled chicken. This includes 2 pretty interesting techniques I didn't know about - as interesting as tomato tips can be, that is!

1) I've shared how I usually peel tomatoes (click here for that post) but this recipe says to peel them with a vegetable peeler using a "zig-zag motion". I'll admit I did not think it would work, and why a zig-zag motion?... well whatever the reason, it works. The peels came right off. Super easy.

2) after peeling, cut in half and remove the seeds (I left a few 'cuz I'm lazy and then ended up needing to drain the tomatoes because it was very liquid-y), chop into a small dice. Put in a bowl and when you're ready to eat them heat up some olive oil until very hot (use caution obviously, spilled hot olive oil hurts!) and then pour over the raw chopped tomatoes. The tomatoes were still fresh and raw, but the oil softened them and makes a sort-of sauce. Love this barely warmed up dish - perfect for the 90' days we're still having!

I halved the recipe and it made plenty to toss with a package of ravioli for the two of us. No leftovers tho... that made me a little sad. Here's the original recipe, easy to make smaller (or larger) amounts as desired.

Ingredients:

3 pounds ripe tomatoes, cored
2 Tablespoons fresh basil
2 teaspoons fresh oregano
1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
sea salt

Directions:

Cut a 1/4-inch slice from the tops of the tomatoes. Peel the tomatoes with a vegetable peeler, using a zig-zag motion, halve them crosswise, and remove and discard the seeds. Cut the tomatoes into 1/4" dice and transfer to a large serving bowl. Add the basil and oregano.

Just before serving, heat the olive oil over medium heat in a 1-quart saucepan until shimmering hot (but not smoking): pour over the tomato mixture, add 2 teaspoons salt and mix well. Toss with cooked pasta and serve.

Yields 3-4 cups, enough for 1 lb. dried pasta


recipe found here.

Sloppy Joes From Scratch

My sis had a work function and signed up to bring sloppy joes - so guess what I made yesterday? Yep, since I'm her personal caterer/gopher/assistant/slave I made the sloppy joes for her. On the plus side it gave me a chance to experiment on people I don't know and make sloppy joes from scratch which I've never done before, and now I can blog them :) Win-win.

Hold on - I need a break in the post to tell you a backstory: she was originally supposed to bring a dish-to-pass and asked if I felt like making anything, she didn't care what. I remembered a recipe that a friend gave me years ago for Green Chile Frittata and I thought that'd be a great buffet thing for her to take to work, but I questioned the recipe because it says it takes 3 pounds of cheese! 3 pounds? Hmmm, I worried that wasn't right - can anything that fits in a 13x9 cake pan take 3 pounds of cheese? So a few days ago I made a tester run of the frittata and halved the amount of cheese just to see if that was going to taste right - and it does. It is a delicious casserole and I was confident about sending it into work with her. Then she tells me that she doesn't need the frittata anymore, she needs sloppy joes instead. Now you know the rest of the story.

Back to the sloppy's...Cathy told me once that they put grape jelly in their sloppy joe sauce - yep, you read that right, grape jelly! I don't have her recipe but I googled to see if anyone else makes it like that and there are lots of recipes to pick from...I know, weird - right? I combined a few recipes to come up with this one, and fortunately this sauce turned out so good (otherwise I planned to make a store run for Manwich!). I had Dave try it and he said it tasted just like his mom used to make, I take that as a big compliment (Shirl was a great cook!) and it's now a keeper recipe. I'm never using Manwich again, these are SO much better!

Pssst: don't tell my sissy but it's really easy to make homemade sloppy joes - I might have made it sound like I slaved away all day on it but it comes together very quickly ;)

I used 6 pounds of burger so needed a lot of sauce - I made 6 cups and used almost all of it - here is what I will do next time for a smaller batch (if you want 6 pounds worth just triple these amounts!).

Joes:

• 2 pounds ground beef
• 1/2 cup chopped onion
• garlic salt

Put the beef and onions in a large skillet and sprinkle with garlic salt, cook over medium heat until the meat is no longer pink. Drain it really well then wipe out the pan - greasy sloppy joes are gross. 

To make them sloppy: 

• 1 can condensed tomato soup, undiluted
• 1 cup ketchup
• 3 Tablespoons grape jelly
• 1 Tablespoon brown sugar
• 1 Tablespoon cider vinegar
• 2 teaspoons dijon mustard
• 2 teaspoons yellow mustard
• 1 teaspoon worcestershire sauce
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon celery seed

Mix the sauce ingredients together in a big bowl and taste it - I added a few more dashes of this and that to get it how I wanted. If you like it sweeter add more jelly or brown sugar, more tangy add additional vinegar or mustard. Play with it. Once it tastes good to you, add it to the drained ground beef and cook until it gets hot (or put it in a slow cooker on low for 4 hours). 

For Jen to take to work I put it in a big ziplock baggie (I had a little worry that the bag was going to break open it was so heavy!) and then she transferred the mixture to a crock pot once she got to work. Easier than trying to carry a full crockpot in from the car! 

PS: I'll post the frittata recipe soon - the sloppy joes were a hit but they have no idea how good the frittata was that they missed out on! :)


One year ago: s'more pie
Two years ago: mashed cauliflower

Polenta Parmesan with Spinach and White Beans

I love white beans baked with spaghetti sauce (click here for that recipe), this recipe combines those flavors with polenta and spinach to make a delicious dish that could be either a side dish or a stand alone meat-free dinner option.

Ingredients:

• 2 teaspoons olive oil
• 1 tube polenta
• 1 (15 oz.) can white beans, drained and rinsed
• 2 large handfuls baby spinach leaves
• 2 1/2 cups tomato sauce, divided
• 1 cup shredded cheese

Directions:

1. Heat oven to 400'. Slice polenta in about 1" thick slices, you want to get about 7 slices. Heat a large skillet over medium heat and add olive oil and polenta slices. Cook polenta until crisp, about 5 minutes on each side.
2. In a medium sized oven safe pan mix together white beans, 1 1/2 cups tomato sauce and spinach. Top with polenta slices and then top each one with a spoonful of tomato sauce and some shredded cheese. 
3. Bake until heated through and cheese is melted, about 20 minutes. 

click here for the original recipe

Pot Roast with Tomato Sauce

We had friends over for dinner and I found this pot roast recipe from Ina Garten that sounded good - so once again I experimented on my unsuspecting friends and made it along with baked parmesan risotto, and roasted veggies. The actual meat was just so-so, but the sauce is so-SO good that I'm sharing the entire recipe just so you can try this sauce. Maybe I just got a not-great roast because there's no reason for the meat to not have been good! Unfortunately (or maybe it was fortunate) I left the meat in a pan on the stove to keep it warm if anyone wanted seconds and forgot about it. Man, I'm still soaking that burned pan! So I had to throw (and scrape) out the meat but since this makes so much sauce I had plenty of extra to serve over gnocchi the next night - and it was even more delicious than the first night!


Company Pot Roast (Ina Garten, Food Network)

• 1 (4 to 5-pound) prime boneless beef chuck roast, tied
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
• All-purpose flour
• Good olive oil
• 2 cups chopped carrots (4 carrots)
• 2 cups chopped yellow onions (2 onions)
• 2 cups chopped celery (4 stalks)
• 2 cups chopped leeks, white and light green parts (2 to 4 leeks)
• 5 large garlic cloves, peeled and crushed
• 2 cups good red wine, such as Burgundy
• 2 tablespoons Cognac or brandy
• 1 (28-ounce) can whole plum tomatoes in puree
• 1 cup chicken stock, preferably homemade
• 1 chicken bouillon cube
• 3 branches fresh thyme
• 2 branches fresh rosemary
• 1 tablespoon unsalted butter, at room temperature
  
  
  
  
  

  Directions:

  Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.

  Pat the beef dry with a paper towel. Season the roast all over with 1 tablespoon salt and 1 1/2 teaspoons pepper. Dredge the whole roast in flour, including the ends. In a large Dutch oven, heat 2 tablespoons olive oil over medium heat. Add the roast and sear for 4 to 5 minutes, until nicely browned. Turn and sear the other side and then turn and sear the ends. This should take 4 to 5 minutes for each side. Remove the roast to a large plate.

  

  Add 2 tablespoons olive oil to the Dutch oven. Add the carrots, onions, celery, leeks, garlic, 1 tablespoon salt, and 1 1/2 teaspoons pepper and cook over medium heat for 10 to 15 minutes, stirring occasionally, until tender but not browned. Add the wine and Cognac and bring to a boil. Add the tomatoes, chicken stock, bouillon cube, 2 teaspoons salt, and 1 teaspoon pepper. Tie the thyme and rosemary together with kitchen string and add to the pot. Put the roast back into the pot, bring to a boil, and cover. Place in the oven for 2 1/2 hours, until the meat is fork tender or about 160 degrees F internally. Turn the heat down to 250 degrees F after about an hour to keep the sauce at a simmer.

  
  Remove the roast to a cutting board. Remove the herb bundle and discard. Skim off as much fat as possible from the sauce. Transfer half the sauce and vegetables to a blender or a food processor fitted with the steel blade and puree until smooth. Pour the puree back into the pot, place on the stovetop over low heat, and return the sauce to a simmer. Place 2 tablespoons flour and the butter in a small bowl and mash them together with a fork. Stir into the sauce and simmer for 2 minutes, stirring until thickened. Taste for seasonings. Remove the strings from the roast, and slice the meat. Serve warm with the sauce spooned over it.
  
  
  
  

  2008, Barefoot Contessa Back to Basics, All Rights Reserved
  
  
  
  

Note: instead of transferring half the sauce to a blender or food processor I just stuck my immersion blender in the pot and whisked things up until it was a nice consistency - chunky with the liquid part smooth and thick. I did not need to add flour and butter to thicken the sauce up, it did it on it's own.

Leeks can be really dirty on the inside - to easily clean them I cut off the top and bottom and slice about half way thru (the long way). Then hold it under running water and rinse, sort of fan the inside of the leak apart to get between all the layers.