Roasted Tomato Marinara

I first used this Roasted Tomato Marinara recipe at my mom's from her copy of the November 2010 issue of Cooking Light.  We loved it and were sad to have just now found it.  When I went to go find it on the website to make it myself at home, I found that the ingredient list was the same, but the directions seemed slightly different somehow.  None of the helpful tips were included.  As I looked at the page I noticed that the recipe had a horribly low rating, 2 or 2.5 stars, and when I checked the reviews, I saw that no one was having success with this recipe.

I feel bad saying this, but those people are dumb.  Really, they are.  Now, mostly I feel bad because I was that dumb once.  But I've since learned that YOU CAN CHANGE A RECIPE!  You don't have to follow it to the letter.  I've kept all the same ingredients and their proportions, with the exception of less water added, and I prefer to salt and pepper to taste.  What I'm doing differently that makes this, to me, a 5-star recipe, is all about the method.

Let's keep the ingredient list the same.  Now, the new steps:
1. Blanch and peel the tomatoes.  Then halve them and squeeze some of the seeds out and put them in a bowl.  Toss with the basil, oregano, sugar and olive oil as in the original directions.
2. Roast them at 450* until some of the edges start to darken.  You can take them out after 20 minutes, minimum, but longer is better (if you're able to watch them closely).
3. Smash them up if you like a chunky sauce, or puree them in the food processor for a smoother sauce.  I was doing double and triple batches, so I was able to use an immersion blender.
4. Follow the instructions for cooking the onions and reducing the wine as written in the original directions.
5. When you add the tomatoes, add half the recommended amount of water (about 1/3 cup for each batch).  Simmer for 15 minutes or longer until the sauce is a consistency you like.  Salt and pepper to taste instead of using the amounts provided.
6. Let the sauce cool - you can refrigerate it overnight if you want - and ladle 2-cup portions into labeled freezer bags.  We found it easiest to line a tall measuring cup with a bag and add a little extra, above the 2-cup mark, to compensate for the space taken up by the bag.

I made six times the recipe this way, yielding about 27 cups of sauce.  Sure, it took me three agonizing days - that's what 24 pounds of tomatoes will do to you - but it results in something delicious.  Those reviewers need to loosen up, take a step back, and adjust based on their needs.  I'm surprised I'm able to do this - I wasn't always - but it makes cooking infinitely easier on a person.

Marinara is a great staple to have on hand.  The first time we made it, we used some as a diavolo sauce, adding shrimp and crushed red pepper flakes.  You can use it in lasagna, eggplant rollatini, etc.  You can use it with spaghetti and meatballs.  There's a lot you can do with it, and as I use up my 27 cups this winter, I'll try to add some more ideas.

CSA: October 2010

Week 22 (10/7/2010):
- 3 lbs heirloom tomatoes
- 8 winter squash (2 acorn, 2 delicata, 1 butternut, 1 buttercup, 2 ambercup??)
- 1 pumpkin
- 1 lb chard
- 1 lb baby bok choy
- 1 lb arugula
- 4 eggplants
- 4 peppers (did not take)
- 2 heads broccoli
- 1 bunch parsley
- 1 bunch cilantro
- 2 bunches kale
- 1 bunch scallions
- 3 bunches carrots
PYO
- 2 quarts cherry tomatoes (took 1)
- 2 quarts snap beans
- 4 quarts sauce tomatoes
- sage, marjoram, lemongrass

Friday: I froze 4 eggplants (last week's).  (See this post on localkitchen if you're interested in freezing anything.)  My mom came back from Florida, so I made my family dinner - sweet dumpling squash with orange-scented quinoa stuffing.  I only had 2 dumpling squash so I used a kabocha as well.  The stuffing had cremini mushrooms in it, which I got from the market (and had been meaning to buy all summer, since the market ends in October).  I also made some basil pesto and froze it - my Nonna brought me a ton of basil from her sister's backyard.
Saturday: I made and froze even more basil pesto, ending up with a total of five 4-oz containers. (Note to self: I used pine nuts.)
Monday: I made myself a bowl of sauteed baby bok choy with rice for lunch.
Wednesday: I made a baked pasta dish with cubed kabocha squash, torn pieces of kale, and some broccoli florets.

Winter Squash including Delicata, Butternut, Acorn, and Buttercup

Week 23 (10/14/2010):
- 2 or 3 lbs tomatoes
- 1 lb arugula
- 1 lb chard
- 2 lbs baby bok choy
- 1 lb spicy mix
- 2 heads lettuce
- 4 peppers (to turn red)
- 1 head cauliflower
- 4 heads broccoli
- 3 bunches kale (Red Russian)
- 1 bunch parsley
- 1 cabbage
- 1 bunch scallions
- 1 bunch radishes
- 1 bunch kohlrabi
- 4 winter squash (2 butternut, 2 sweet dumpling)
PYO
- 1 quart cherry tomatoes (did not take)
- 4 quarts sauce tomatoes
- lemongrass, chives
- 6 hot peppers
- 2 quarts snap beans
Thursday: I used an acorn squash, scallions and corn to make Roasted Corn Pudding in Acorn Squash.
Friday: I had lunch at my mom's - a salad with lettuce, carrots, heirloom tomato, red wine vinegar and olive oil.  We also broiled some slices of a delicious parmesan provolone cheesy bread I got at the market.  My mom and I made a new sauce recipe with our sauce tomatoes: Slow-Roasted Tomato Marinara from Nov. 2010 Cooking Light.  I later used it with some spaghetti, shrimp and crushed red pepper flakes for a diavolo-style pasta dish.
Saturday: For lunch I made Cashew Curry with green beans, cauliflower, and red onion.  For dinner I made Mushroom Bourguignon using cremini mushrooms I got at the Rutgers Gardens market (plus an onion) - it was delicious.
Tuesday: I made the curry again, using more cauliflower, green beans, red onion, and this time some carrot shreds as well.

Week 24 (10/21/2010):
- unlimited sauce tomatoes - we ended up with over 24 pounds (PYO)
- herbs & hot peppers & 1 quart cherry tomatoes (PYO - did not take)
- 2 lbs tomatoes
- 1 1/2 lbs arugula
- 1 lb baby bok choy
- 1 lb spicy mix
- 4 peppers (3 purple, 1 that might turn red!)
- 2 heads cauliflower
- 2 heads red lettuce
- 1 bunch scallions
- 2 bunches radishes
- 2 bunches turnips
- 1 green cabbage
- 2 bunches cilantro
Thursday: I roasted some old eggplants, tomatoes, and an onion for roasted eggplant soup.
Friday: I finished making the roasted eggplant soup.  (It was delicious!)
Saturday: I made a delicious winter squash soup (butternut and acorn squash, plus onion and sage) and some Gruyere croutons topped with some chopped sage and thyme with my friend Hilary!
Sunday: For breakfast I made apple pie oatmeal with a pink lady apple.  My mom and I made a lasagna with the Red Russian kale for dinner.  We also used the ripe sauce tomatoes to make more of the marinara sauce.
Monday: I used a butternut squash, a head of orange cauliflower, a leek and three carrots for a delicious soup.
Tuesday: I was feeling too lazy to cook, so I cut some broccoli for use (probably) tomorrow and I made croutons out of the rest of the whole-grain bread I bought last week at the market.

I made this teryaki stir fry with salmon, 

baby bok choy, purple peppers, onions, and 

carrots... but I can't remember when I did it!

Week 25 (10/28/2010):
- PYO herbs- lemongrass, sage, thyme
- 6 peppers (took 4 orange, donated 2 green)
- 1 lb arugula
- 2 heads broccoli
- 2 lbs spicy mix (donated)
- 8 heads lettuce
- 2 bunches collards
- 1 bunch cilantro
- 1 bunch scallions
- 2 bunches carrots
- 1 rutabaga
- 1 head cabbage
- 1 bunch turnips
- 1 fennel bulb
- 2 bunches celery 
Friday: I had a great salad for lunch with lettuce and tomato from our CSA, plus some of those croutons I made (I rubbed two sides of each with a cut garlic clove which made delicious garlic croutons).
Sunday: We finally got to do our Smoked Tomato Bisque project :) (and so used some of our unlimited sauce tomatoes and onions).  Later on, in a 5+ hour period of misery, we slaved away to turn almost all the rest of those tomatoes and the last of my local onions into Roasted Tomato Marinara (though we only made it to the end of the roasting part).
Monday: Made the roasted tomatoes into sauce!  I also had some lettuce on a sandwich.
Tuesday: Froze all the tomato sauce (about 27 cups - so glad to be done!) and had another sandwich with lettuce.

Smoked Tomato Bisque

It makes me very sad to say that many people will never try the Smoked Tomato Bisque from The Soup Peddler's Slow and Difficult Soups.  Either they don't know about it, or they just turn the page when they see the use of a smoker in the directions.  I, however, was determined.  First, I tried to find a way around the smoking part.  I thought I could broil the tomatoes instead - blacken them on the outside and blister the tomato paste as the recipe suggests.  But one day, I mentioned my plan to some friends.  "Oh, we have a smoker."  What?  Who seriously has a smoker?  Well, my friends live in a little cottage on a horse farm, and the guy who lived there before them left a whole bunch of odd stuff behind - including a smoker.  After several scheduling conflicts, Halloween turned out to be the perfect day to use some of the very last tomatoes for Smoked Tomato Bisque and to make some delicious grilled cheese sandwiches.

I should note that this recipe should not take you 4+ hours like it did for us.  Figure out what you're doing ahead of time.  Figure out what a smoker is, that you need charcoal AND wood chips.  Figure out where you can buy those things before driving around to several different stores.  Figure out whether you need newspaper to light it up and why you don't have any in the house.  Once you've done those things, the rest is easy.  Put the tomatoes in the smoker, then chop up the onions and celery.  Start caramelizing the onions when you think the skins of the tomatoes might start to split soon.  (You can just turn off the heat if you're done too early.)  When they're done, make soup.  You could be done in much less time than we were.

The consensus at the table was that the recipe was worth the time we spent on it.  Time goes by quicker when you're with friends anyway.  The smoky flavor of the soup was amazing - it tasted like fall to me.  It was pretty strong, though, so I couldn't eat too much of it.  The recipe says it serves 6, but we ate some and each kept at least a quart - I don't know how six people could eat all of that.

The soup was great, and I hope we can make it again next year when the tomatoes come back.  Seeing how easy to use the smoker was also inspired some more smoking project ideas - including some with meat.