Tomato season is here, and I bet even some of you who don’t consider yourselves gardeners have a tomato plant or two so you can enjoy the amazing flavor of a fresh, home grown tomato.

For those of you who don’t grow your own during the summer you certainly won’t have any difficulty finding them at local farmers’ markets. If you’re new to your area, haven’t shopped local farmers’ markets recently or just plain don’t know where to find one near you, check out www.localharvest.org to search by zip code.

I am an avid gardener, but unfortunately do not have much space for vegetable gardening. This year I decided to get more inventive and find ways to grow a few things in pots. (If you recall, earlier this year I shared a picture of some small radish I grew in fine soil in a wide shallow pot.) One thing I was particularly enthusiastic about was a package of San Marzano seeds I’d had in the refrigerator for years. On March 29 this past spring my first San Marzano tomato journey began. 133 days later, I harvested my first nine tomatoes! (Not many, but San Marzanos are indeterminate meaning they produce fruit over a period of time.)

Clearly nine plum tomatoes is not nearly enough to merit getting out the canning supplies or even cooking down to paste. So what was I to do with my few precious tomatoes? For anyone who isn’t already familiar with San Marzanos, these tomatoes are not the kind of tomato to slice and eat raw on a sandwich or in a salad. These tomatoes best show off their merits when they’ve been cooked. Given my initial small yield, I devised a way to make do with so few of these little gems — roasted tomato sauce.

One more short discourse before I dive into sharing the recipe - I was about to call this quick & easy pasta sauce, but it really isn’t quick. Even though it doesn’t qualify as a quick sauce it more than qualifies as easy and the active preparation time is very little, about 10 minutes. The rest of the time the tomatoes are roasting away in the oven getting really sweet and saucy. Do you have a quick version of your own fresh tomato sauce? I’d love to hear about it.

easy pasta sauce

• San Marzano tomatoes, cut in half lengthwise
• olive oil
• coarse salt, to taste
• fresh basil (may substitute dried)
• fresh oregano (may substitute dried)
• fresh thyme (may substitute dried)
• garlic
• good quality balsamic vinegar

Heat oven to 400 degrees F. Lay tomatoes, cut side up in a baking dish large enough to hold them in a single layer. If using dried herbs instead of fresh, sprinkle tomatoes with dried herbs at this point. The amount of dried herbs to use is the same or a bit more than the appropriate amount of salt. Season with salt and drizzle somewhat generously with olive oil. Put in oven and roast until completely soft and edges begin to brown, about 45 - 60 minutes.

Just before taking the tomatoes out of the oven, mince the fresh herbs (if using) and garlic. Set aside. Remove tomatoes from oven. Flip tomatoes cut side down and pull the skin away with a fork. Discard the skin. Stir in the minced herbs and break up the tomatoes with a fork or a couple of dinner knives the same as you would cut butter into flour for biscuits or pie crust. Drizzle in balsamic vinegar and adjust seasonings to taste.  Serve over hot pasta.

Notes:

• If your balsamic vinegar is not well aged and has a bit of an edge on it, stir in a bit of brown sugar to tame it.
• For my nine tomatoes, I used about 1 1/2 T. balsamic vinegar, 1 1/2 T. fresh basil, 2 t. fresh oregano, 2 t. fresh thyme and 1 large clove garlic.
• My nine tomatoes made enough sauce for 2 adults with no leftovers!

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Over the last month, I have been keeping busy developing new recipes inspired mainly from the produce I receive in my CSA box. In the process of having so much fun, I’ve neglected to share the ideas that would be helpful to everyone out there interested in keeping their cooking seasonal. Over the next few days, I’ll be getting caught up on sharing some of the recipes and ideas from the last few weeks, so stay posted. There is more to come!

Yesterday we received our first sweet corn and heirloom tomatoes of the season. Those two ingredients, along with the candy onions available now inspired my roasted corn and black bean salad. We’ve been getting huckleberry potatoes as well over the last few weeks, and I incorporated those into the meal. Fried until crisp on the outside and soft in the middle, they were a nice complement to the bright flavors in the salad. In addition to being suitable on its own as a light meal, this salad would make a nice side to a number of things including fish tacos or a good burger.

Roasted Corn & Black Bean Salad

• 2 cans black beans, drained or 3/4# dry black beans, cooked
• 6 ears corn, roasted or grilled, kernels removed from cobb
• 1 large tomato, diced
• 1 large green bell pepper, diced
• 1 small candy onion, very thinly sliced
• 1/2 cup cilantro, minced
• 1 lime, juiced
• 2 T cider vinegar
• 2 t chili powder
• 1 t ground coriander
• 1 t ground cumin
• 1 chipotle in adobo sauce, minced
• 4 T olive oil
• salt and pepper to taste

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For the second week in a row, I had the delight of receiving English peas in my CSA box. English peas do have to be shelled before eating, but they are so worth the little amount of effort required. My husband and I shelled them in a matter of minutes while talking on the phone with some family.

Last week, I utilized the peas in fried rice and vegetable korma. Both dishes came out tasting so fresh and delicious, but for this week I really wanted to make the peas the center of attention. I had to think for a little while before deciding what I wanted to do with the peas and finally settled on English pea soup. It was simple, delicious, filling and best of all, quick! I prepared some multigrain croutons with white truffle oil and butter as a nice crunchy compliment to the creamy soup.

Enjoy the recipe below and let me know how it turns out for you if you try it.

English Pea Soup

• 4 T. olive oil
• 1 large clove garlic, rough chop
• 1 large leek, sliced (white and light green part only)
• 2 medium ribs celery, diced
• 1 quart chicken stock
• 1 quart shelled English peas
• 2 large russet potatoes, peeled and diced
• 1/4 cup Italian parsley, minced
• salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
• optional garnishes: chopped chives, crumbled pancetta, creme fraiche

Heat the oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add garlic, leeks and celery. Allow to cook until softened, about 10 minutes.

Add stock and potatoes to the pan and bring to a boil. Immediately reduce heat to a simmer and allow to cook until the potatoes are almost tender, about 15 minutes. Add the peas and continue cooking until potatoes and peas are cooked through, about 10 minutes more.

Season with salt and pepper to taste. Stir in parsley.

Puree soup in a blender or with an immersion blender until completely smooth. Serve hot, room temperature, or cold with optional garnishes.

Yield: 4-6 servings

Note: This recipe can be made completely vegan by using vegetable stock in place of the chicken stock.

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• 1 whole chicken
• 2 t. ground cumin
• 1 1/2 t. coarse salt
• 1 t. smoked paprika
• 1 t. chili powder
• 1 t. freshly ground pepper

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Thoroughly combine spices in a small bowl.

Remove excess fat from chicken and gently separate skin from meat without removing skin from chicken.

Rub spice mixture all over chicken, under skin and inside.

Place in roasting pan and roast until it reaches an internal temperature of 165 degrees F at the thickest part of the thigh and the juices run clear, about 90 minutes depending on size of chicken.

Allow to rest 15 minutes before carving. Serve with rhubarb chutney.

Note: The skin may be removed after cooking. I feel it is important to leave the skin on for cooking to keep the meat moist.

For the chutney:

• 2 t. olive oil
• 1 large Spanish onion, thinly sliced
• 5 large stalks rhubarb, large dice
• 3/4 c water
• 1/3 c honey
• 2 T. fresh ginger, minced
• 1 whole stick cinnamon
• 1 t. molasses
• 1/2 t. ground coriander
• 1/4 t. crushed red pepper flakes

Heat olive oil in a large skillet. Add sliced onions and cook over medium-low heat until well browned.

Add rhubarb, water, honey, ginger, cinnamon, molasses, coriander and red pepper flakes. Stir well. Bring to a boil then reduce to a simmer.

Allow to cook until rhubarb has softened and liquid has mostly evaporated.

Great with roasted or grilled pork or chicken. Also makes a wonderful condiment on sandwiches.

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• 2 large stalks rhubarb, small dice
• 1 1/2 c. black cherry juice
• 1/2 c. sugar
• 3 t. orange juice concentrate

Combine ingredients in a small saucepan and bring to a boil.

Reduce heat to a simmer and cook until liquid has reduced by half and is nice and syrupy.

Makes a wonderful dessert topping on vanilla ice cream or a great drizzle on savory grilled and roasted meats.

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