Saturday, July 10, 2010

Fresh Summer Tomato Sauce

When it's a hundred degrees and humid, the last thing I want to do is turn on the oven or the stove top. I have an abundance of plum tomatoes at the moment, so this morning I made an uncooked marinated tomato sauce.

Later on, I am going to eat it with some pasta and some shaved parmesan, but this is a versatile sauce that can be used a number of ways. It makes a wonderful bruschetta topping, and grilled or broiled on flatbread with some little chunks of fresh mozzarella, it is divine.

Since I was still in my PJ's, I made this with only things I had on hand. I suppose another name for this sauce could be Lazy Slacker Sauce. Here's what I put in it:

10 plum tomatoes, diced
one clove of garlic, minced
about 12 basil leaves, finely chopped
salt and pepper
1/2 teaspoon of honey
1/2 cup of olive oil

Just mix this together in a glass bowl, cover it with plastic wrap, and let it sit in room temperature for at least 2 hours and up to 8 hours. Be careful not to go too heavy on the garlic--it will be plenty pungent in its raw state.

A tip about storing fresh tomatoes:

If you store your lovingly grown tomatoes in the fridge, you should be shaken and have your hair pulled. You might as well buy them at a suburban supermarket in the dead of winter. If you have made the effort to grow tomatoes, do not ever store them in the fridge. This kills their flavor and causes the flesh to go mealy. Just keep them in a pretty bowl and eat lots of them so they don't go bad. If you can't eat them fast enough, use them to make friends with your neighbor. If you still have too many, can or freeze them!


Anonymous said...

Sooo glad you're back. Blogosphere hasn't been the same without you!!

Janine Serresseque said...

Thanks, Sorsh. I am weaning myself from Facebook, as it seems to have dulled my desire to write anything longer than 4 lines. Looking forward to reuniting with my blogging friends.