so... many.... tomatoes!

Well, it has finally happened. The Lonesome Road Studio Kitchen is about to be inundated with a bumper crop of tomatoes in various stages of ripeness. Eventually I will be getting out the heavy equipment and spending some time making pizza sauce to freeze, but in the meantime I'm making dishes that really emphasize the freshness and quality of a good garden-ripened tomato. In fact, just a couple of days ago, I made a delicious insalata caprese, a simple Italian salad of fresh tomatoes and mozzarella, olive oil and um.... oregano. Basil is the traditional herb of insalata caprese but we have plenty of fresh Greek oregano on hand so that is what went into my salad.

Hm. Will these become pizza sauce? Or maybe a nice cool Panzanella (Italian bread and tomato salad)?
Look at the size of these things!

Greek oregano.

Isn't this just gorgeous? And so fast and easy to prepare, it literally takes minutes. Just slice the best ripe tomatoes you can find, and layer alternately with slices of fresh mozzarella cheese. You can actually buy 7 ounce containers of the sliced cheese, which makes this even quicker. If serving for a special occasion, a large beautiful platter works well but I also use an 8 inch by 8 inch glass baking dish for the job. The salad can be chopped if you prefer, but the slices look prettier and and are obviously faster to prepare.

Drizzle with a high-quality olive oil, then sprinkle with slivered fresh basil (or in my case, oregano tastes very nice as well). Season liberally with sea salt and black pepper and allow to sit in your refrigerator, covered, for a little while. Before serving, allow the salad to warm up a bit to almost room temperature. An 8 inch by 8 inch dish of insalata caprese will serve 4 to 6; if you have any leftovers it is delicious tucked into an omelet for breakfast the next morning.

i wanna grow up to be just like you!

You Wanted It, You've Got It -

Lonesome's Pizza Sauce

Roma tomato seeds are sprouting in the Lonesome Road Studio garden! They don't know it yet, but these little guys will be transformed into batches and batches of the best pizza sauce ever.

As promised in an earlier post, here is the recipe for my absolute favorite pizza sauce. The sauce also makes a good and quick sauce for pasta, but it truly stars on a crisp homemade pizza crust with all of your favorite toppings. This sauce can be canned; process in pint jars in a boiling water bath for 35 minutes. Or, just freeze it; that is my preferred method and the sauce freezes beautifully.

ingredients:

• 6 pounds Roma tomatoes, peeled and chopped
• 1 medium onion, coarsely chopped
• 2 jalapeno or serrano peppers (seed and remove veins for less heat)
• 3 tablespoons chopped fresh basil leaves
• 1-1/2 tablespoons fresh oregano
• 1 teaspoon fresh thyme
• 1 teaspoon fennel seeds
• 3 large cloves garlic
• 2-1/2 tablespoons sugar
• 1-1/2 tablespoons salt
• 2 six ounce cans tomato paste
• 2-1/2 tablespoons olive oil

In a blender or food processor, puree tomatoes, onions, peppers, herbs and garlic. Put mixture in a large soup pot.

Add sugar, salt, tomato paste and olive oil to the mixture in the soup pot. Cook over low heat for at least 2 hours until very thick. Stir occasionally to prevent sticking. Taste for seasonings and correct. Can or freeze as you wish (see simple canning directions, above).

Makes about 6 pints of sauce.