CSA Week 14 Bounty:
- Tomatoes (about 3 lb)
- 4 Sweet peppers
- 3 Hot peppers
- 1 Melon
- bag o’ green beans
- Swiss chard
- 1 bunch Scallions
- 1 bunch Kale
It’s time to start cooking tomatoes into sauce that I can just pour into a dish later in the year. I don’t like tomatoes straight up, so making sauce and freezing it is a perfect way to use them. Then I don’t have to worry about chemicals and preservatives in cans.
Tomato Sauce:
- 1/2 cup EVOO
- 1 small onion, chopped
- 2 cloves garlic, chopped
- 1 stalk celery, chopped
- 1 carrot, chopped
- 1 hot pepper (optional)
- salt and pepper
- 4 lbs tomatoes, peeled
- 8 basil leaves
- 2 bay leaves
In a dutch oven, heat oil to medium high heat. Add onion and garlic and sauté for about 2 minutes. Add celery, carrot, and hot pepper with salt and pepper. Saute for about 5 minutes. Add tomatoes, basil, bay leaves and simmer covered on low for about an hour until thick. Remove bay leaves and taste. If it tastes too acidic, add a tbsp of butter until it cuts it. Pulse with a hand blender. Let it cool and freeze! It should give you about 6 cups of sauce.