TOMATOES OF AUGUST

Sassy’s tomato sauce~red salad~Caprese salad~too many tomatoes?!?~tomato plant care~what I'm watching~more charcuterie & cheese boards~the wildflowers of Crested Butte

Tomato sauce, your fave pasta, shaved parmesan, and basil leaf for accent

Sassy’s Sublime Tomato Sauce

Since there's no national tomato month, I declare August is! In celebration, Sara, my wife, whose nickname is “Sassy,” has begun her annual campaign to fill our freezer with "Sassy Sauce." It’s a perfect expression of her love for cooking. And it's fabulous! Below is a pictorial story of how tomato sauce goes from some garden somewhere—sometimes our own—to our dinner table, fresh for now for us and family and friends, then frozen on into the year. The story begins with tomatoes—most often roma—but a batch often includes others, too.

The fast-growing farm-to-table movement has led to a surge of farmer's markets popping up all over the country, with over 8,600 markets registered in the U.S. already! Many have become a weekly highlight for regulars, with food stalls and produce quality that can't be found anywhere else. That’s where may of us find our tomatoes. The lucky among us, may also find them at tomato-conscious markets and grocers.

FOR 4 SERVINGS

INGREDIENTS

• 2 lb fresh ripe tomatoes, roma preferred but any tomatoes will do

• 2/3 cup chopped carrot

• 2/3 cup chopped celery

• 2/3 cup chopped onion

• salt to taste

• 1/4 tsp granulated sugar

• 1/2 c olive oil

• 1/2 c Parmesan cheese

• 1/2 c fresh cut basil

STEPS

1. Wash tomatoes in cold water

2. Cut in half, lengthwise, cooking until tender. Add 1/2” water to pan so tomatoes don’t stick to bottom

3. Puree tomatoes through a food mill to remove seeds and skins

4. Add 1/2 c olive oil to diced carrot, celery, and onion mixture. Cook until translucent

5. Add pureed tomato to pan with vegetables. Add salt and sugar. Cook at a steady simmer, uncovered

6. May take a couple hours to reduce sauce by at least 1/2”

7. Divide among containers that can be gifted or frozen, or . . .

7. . . . make a pot of pasta, top with sauce, sprinkle with Parmesan and garnish with fresh basil

Caprese Salad

Caprese salad is a perfect August salad, because it’s so easy to prepare and makes use of quintessentially perfect tomatoes, fresh mozzarella—bufala, if possible, fresh basil tucked between the cheese and tomatoes. Of course, use the freshest possible olive oil or—my top choice—balsamic. Caprese salad was discovered and refined by Italian cooks, as a starter, not a side dish to be eaten any time of day, everywhere since post World War I as a tribute to the colors of Italy’s perfectly colored flag, only outdone by this perfectly colored salad.

Vincenzo’s Caprese Salad YouTube is right here, but so is another from Delish.com, plus even more variations from Love and Lemons.

Red Salad

I just happened upon this idea one day in the kitchen long long ago. It surely must have been one August—now, officially, “Tomato Month,” as I’ve declared. Red leaf lettuce has been a staple in my refrigerator forever. To the red lettuce and tomatoes of all sizes, colors, shapes, quarters, and slices, add cut up radishes, and red peppers. While simple, this red salad is stunning and scrumptious. Among the other possible additions to it, if you please, are strawberries, red cherries, pomegranate seeds, plums, blood orange, rhubarb, red spinach, red onion, beet root, red chili peppers, cranberries, raspberries, apples, red kidney beans, red grapes, red cabbage, red lentils, red salmon, red snapper, red potatoes, prickly pear, red carrots, or radicchio. Have at it, to your heart desire, with all sorts of combinations.

You Want More About Tomatoes?

So, you say, you want more tomato recipes other than my favorites that I’ve just handed you? Try these 40 from Leite’s Culinaria. And Andrew Zimmern’s Spilled Milk sage advice on solutions to just too, too, too many tomatoes.

Tomato Care

Since you may well be in the throws of a homegrown tomato season where you live, here’s The Spruce with tips on on caring for your plants. Incidentally, growing your own is highly preferred to depending on grocery stores or even farmers’ market for heirlooms, since they’re sometimes hard to find.

Wine Discovery

The Thurstqueen is a fun filled wine blog for millenials. Says it’s creator, Cindy Mersten Fayette: “Let me preface this with the following statement—I usually come up with all of my best ideas when I’m drunk.” Thurstqueen will tell you all the tips and tricks to find a wine confidently, will help you learn about the different wines around the world, pair them with what you’re eating, and get the best bang for your buck the next time you decide to get to drinking. Or so it claims, so try it out to see for yourself. This blog is meant to be educational, with a “Pick of the Week” section where Cindy will share thoughts on $30.00 and under wines that she considers to be a value.

More Charcuterie & Cheese Boards

What fun it was to research and write about all kinds of board in a recent issue. Ideas keep popping up. One place I can always count on is Leite's Culinaria, full of solid and imaginative ideas. Boards are the perfect party food and there are a gazillion variations, so shows America's Test Kitchen. And if those aren’t enough for you, how about checking out an entire cookbook about boards?

Crested Butte Wildflowers

While the wildflowers of California have long ago come and gone, those of Crested Butte, Colorado, the wildflower capital of the state, have folks just now going wild for wildflowers.

Want to make someone’s day? Share this post! Or give someone a free gift subscription!