Fresh Tomato Pasta Sauce

 

Grape tomatoes ripen on the vine.

Oh what plans I had for posting lots of recipes using fresh garden produce this summer. As Robert Burns said:

The best laid schemes o' mice and men 

Gang aft a-gley . (often go awry)

The spring planting turned into an early summer planting because the weather stayed so cool so late. Then there were the squash bugs .... a veritable invasion. The poor squash, aside from being totally 'bugged out' (despite daily attention with insecticidal soap), for some reason did not produce female flowers which produce the squash. They were loaded with blooms .... all male. Hmmmm. This has been a good year for peppers and I've got a lot starting to mature and there are three eggplant blossoms .... the harvest to date has been only one eggplant so hopefully, the blooms will develop.

Tomatoes, along with the peppers have done quite well. There were three kinds (one of each) planted in this year's 'square foot garden' experiment. For those not familiar with 'square foot' gardening, it boils down to a few, very well cared for plants as opposed to a large garden full of plants that quickly declines into a weed bed. I am not good with weeds .... hate 'em, don't like spending time weeding, and all my previous large gardens have been over-planted, over-crowded, and quickly become weedy jungles. So far, the smaller garden is working for me .... there's just not enough produce between the few plants and the weather/insect/disease issues.

Back to the tomatoes .... there are too many for me to eat right now. As much as I love tomato sandwiches, I've hit my limit. What to do with all these tomatoes? There are not enough to can ... something I definitely want to learn to do. Then I saw this recipe for a fresh tomato pasta sauce online. What interests me is the technique of freezing tomatoes whole, then using them later for the sauce. Evidently, the skins slip right off when the tomatoes are thawed ..... I'm liking that a lot!  You can take this tomato preservation/sauce idea and do lots with it - it doesn't have to be just for a spaghetti sauce.

Here is the link to the sauce:

Homegrown, Homemade Pasta Sauce

My first bag of tomatoes went into the freezer this morning ..... we'll see how it all works out, but I expect good success. What makes me really happy is that a lot of beautiful tomatoes will not be going to waste.

Rigatoni Puttanesca

The Silver Palate Chef recipes that appeared in Parade several decades ago are yellow, tattered, & still some of my favorites.  Here is one for Puttanesca sauce that I love, but then I really like anchovies, black olives, and garlic.  The anchovies add a rich depth to this sauce and it is just plain delicious. Not only that, it's easy ..... here's what the Silver Palate Chefs had to say:

"What do you need to have on hand for a classic pasta sauce? All it takes is a large onion, some garlic - and opening a few cans from your cupboard - to make a robust puttanesca sauce everyone will love!"

Ingredients:

• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 large yellow onion, halved and slivered
• 6 cloves of garlic, coarsely chopped
• 2 cans (28 oz. each) Italian plum tomatoes
• 1 heaping tablespoon tomato paste
• 2 cans (2 ounces each) anchovies packed in oil
• 3/4 cup pitted and coarsely chopped imported black olives
• 4 tablespoons drained capers
• 1 teaspoon dried basil
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• Pinch of dried red pepper flakes
• Coarsely ground black pepper, to taste
• 1 pound rigatoni or other large tube-shaped pasta
• Parmesan cheese, optional

Directions:

Heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a heavy saucepan. Add onion and garlic; cook over low heat for 10 - 15 minutes, or until vegetables are wilted.

Crush tomatoes slightly, add to the saucepan along with their liquid. Stir in tomato paste; cook for 5 minutes over medium heat.

Coarsely chop the anchovies and add to the saucepan along with their oil. Stir in olives, capers, basil, red pepper flakes, and black pepper. Stir genly and simmer over medium heat for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.

While the sauce simmers, bring a large pot of water to a boil with remaining tablespoon of olive oil. Add pasta and cook until just tender (al dente); for rigatoni, allow 10-12 minutes.

Drain pasta and served topped with puttanesca sauce. Pass the Parmesan!

Opa's Baked Spaghetti

Opa LOVES baked spaghetti. It is one of his very favorite things. He and Oma had a little restaurant they would go to every couple of weeks just so he could have their baked spaghetti. I've been there once or twice myself so I saw what he was eating ….. looked like spaghetti with a lot of cheese on top to me ….. but evidently they 'did something else' too because when Oma melted cheese on spaghetti at home, it just wasn't the same.

Then a very unhappy event occurred. The little restaurant closed. A search for a new place to have baked spaghetti was not successful ….. either the restaurants had 'regular' spaghetti or the supposed 'baked' spaghetti did not past muster.

One Friday night, I thought “hmmm.... baked spaghetti would be just the thing” for a special treat and I started looking around to see what we had 'on hand' without a trip to the grocery store. We had a 13.5 oz box of thin wheat spaghetti, 2 (24 oz.) jars of spaghetti sauce (one veggi, one meat-flavored), a package (8 oz.) of mozzarella cheese slices and onion, garlic & Mrs. Dash's Seasoning Blend – Italian Medley.

I got online & started looking for baked spaghetti recipes – I finally found one that looked pretty good, but it had ricotta cheese in it ….. Oma said 'no way, no ricotta'. I also knew (from seeing Opa eat his favorite baked spaghetti) that it did not have ricotta in it. So ….. recipe in hand for a general guide, the modifications and cooking began. When Opa walked by, I told him I was making 'baked spaghetti' ….. his eyes lit up and he said “Really? Baked Spaghetti?? Oh boy!” I think he approved of the final product - he ate a very large piece! We'll be making 'baked spaghetti again in the near future. Here is what I came up with:

Ingredients:

• You will need about 6 cups of spaghetti sauce or 2 (24 oz.) jars. Use what you really like because that is going to be the flavor of your baked spaghetti. You can add meat or sauteed veggies or both. Spice it up to your heart's desire.
• 1 lb. ground beef (we just happened to have some in the freezer – you could definitely use ground turkey, venison, sausage - whatever floats your boat)
• 1 large onion, diced
• 3 teaspoons garlic (out of a jar 'cause that's what we had – I prefer fresh garlic & probably would have used 2-3 cloves, minced fine)
• 3 Tablespoons Mrs. Dash's Seasoning Blend – Italian Medley
• 1 box (13.5 oz) of thin wheat spaghetti (if you use regular, it would probably be a 16 oz box – that's ok)
• 5 tablespoons of butter
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 1/3 cup grated parmesan cheese
• Mozzarella cheese. We used an 8 oz. package of mozzarella cheese slices (there were 12) because that is what we had on hand. For a future batch, I think grated would be a better choice … for the top, at least.

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees & grease a 9 x 13 inch pan.
2. In a large pan, saute onions and ground beef until the onions are soft and the meat is cooked through.
3. Add the garlic to the onions/beef the last minute or two – if the garlic gets overdone (begins to brown), it will be bitter.
4. Add the two jars of sauce to the meat mixture & season to taste with whatever you like – I added 3 tablespoons of Mrs. Dash's Seasoning Blend – Italian Medley.
5. Put the sauce on 'simmer' and while that is happening, cook the spaghetti per the instructions.
6. Cut the butter into tablespoons size pieces and put in a large bowl.
7. Beat the two eggs & measure out your parmesan.
8. When the spaghetti is done, drain it well and put it in the large bowl with the butter – mix until the butter is all melted and has coated the spaghetti.
9. Add the eggs & parmesan, mixing well to coat the spaghetti.
10. In the 9 x 13 pan, layer half the spaghetti.
11. Add half the spaghetti sauce on top.
12. Layer half the mozzarella (6 slices …. or grated) on top of the sauce.
13. Repeat the spaghetti & sauce layers (reserve the very top cheese layer for later).
14. Put foil over the top and crimp the edges down.
15. Bake the spaghetti for 40 minutes.
16. Take the foil off and put on the last cheese layer.
17. Return to the oven uncovered for 15-20 minutes, until cheese has melted and begins to get little golden patches or the color is to your liking, then take it out of the oven & serve.

Cooking Notes:

• This baked spaghetti cuts into blocks so it makes a pretty presentation.
• You can add a ricotta layer if you like …. makes it more like a spaghetti 'lasagna'.
• Mrs. Dash's Seasoning Blend – Italian Medley makes a fabulous dipping sauce for bread …. just put a teaspoon/tablespoon on a small plate, pour on the olive oil and give it a stir, then wait a couple of minutes for the spices to soak up the oil and soften a bit .... dip in your bread & enjoy! This beats anything I've ever had in a restaurant.