Time’s ripe to talk tomatoes. While Natures Garden loves it that you love our vegetables and chips, we also completely admire those of you who grow your own. And if you have a veg patch in your yard, you’ll have noticed how tomatoes grow without so much as a word of encouragement.The time has come. High summer’s the time for harvesting those gorgeous juicy red jewels.
A famous French philosopher once said: “While it is entirely possible to have too many chocolates, or too many children, one can never have too many tomatoes.”
Actually, that’s a shameless fib. We just made it up.
And perhaps it’s true that you can have too many tomatoes, because of course, there’s Buñol, a town in Spain where the people host La Tomatina. At this famous tomato festival, participants throw truckloads of ripe tomatoes at each other just for fun, once a year in August. It’s a messy event which attracts hoards of tourists. Afterwards the streets are hosed down. The people, too.
But outside of that Spanish village, it’s true: you really cannot have too many tomatoes. They’re just so versatile, you can do a million things with them.
So if you find yourself with a ton of tomatoes, get out your chef’s knife. Make tomato relish, tomato chutney, tomato jam, and your favourite, tomato pasta sauce.
How To?
First, peel your tomatoes. It’s not that hard. Make a shallow cut around the middle of each tomato, then dump them 2 or 3 at a time into a pot of boiling water. Take them out after about 20 seconds, let them cool for a minute, and the skins will slide off in your fingers. Scoop out the pips and chop up the tomatoes.
It’s true: you really cannot have too many tomatoes.
TOMATO PASTA SAUCE
INGREDIENTS
1/4 cup olive oil
1 finely diced onion
1 bay leaf
3 tsp fresh, chopped oregano
3 chopped garlic cloves
Salt to taste
2 tablespoons tomato paste
12 tomatoes, peeled and seeded.
Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan, on medium heat. Add the onions, bay leaf, oregano, garlic, and salt and cook, stirring often, until the onions are soft and translucent, about 10 minutes.
Add the chopped tomatoes and stir until the sauce boils, then reduce the heat and simmer for 1 hour, stirring regularly. Add the tomato paste and continue cooking for 10 minutes. Add more salt, if necessary. Remove the bay leaf and serve.
