Cherry Tomato Sauce
I started my garden late this year and haven’t been paying much attention to it. My husband’s been doing all of the watering without any instruction from me. I should have told him that tomatoes tend to do better when they’re watered thoroughly every few days, letting the soil and the roots dry completely in between. My tomato plants aren’t looking so hot. The leaves are yellowed and the fruit is suffering from end rot. The one ripe tomato I’ve seen was completely rotten inside.
Luckily the CSA has plenty of healthier tomatoes to offer. The last pint of tomatoes I received was a gorgeous mix of orange, yellow, brown, green and red cherry and grape tomatoes. The colors were stunning and the tomatoes were small and sweet. Sadly, I’m still not much of a tomato person. So I cooked them.
Sam was hungry and demanding noodles so when I put on the pot of water to boil I heated a tablespoon of olive oil in a large pan and added a handful of leeks I’d chopped and rinsed earlier. I chopped the pint of tomatoes into quarters or halves depending on the size, smashed a couple of cloves of garlic, chopped a carrot, and cut some oregano and basil from the garden. When the leeks were soft I added the carrot, garlic and tomatoes, seeds and all, to the pan with a large pinch of kosher salt. While the tomatoes cooked I chopped the oregano and tore the basil leaves. I let the sauce cook on medium heat for the amount of time it took for the pasta cook and drain, stirring every few minutes. When I turned off the heat I stirred in the oregano and basil.
The tomato sauce was sweet and chunky and made entirely from local ingredients. It cooked in the time it took to boil the water for and cook a pot of whole wheat penne. It was beautiful. I wish I had taken a picture.
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