My next door neighbor Andrea (who works for the Food Bank and DC Farm to School Network) and I have an ongoing tomato relationship: we had our first conversation during tomato planting, we often exchange morning pleasantries (how English countryside!) while I fuss over my tomatoes, and this weekend we embarked on an epic journey that involved lots of tomatoes, boiling water and sweat.
Canon EOS 5D with hotshod 580EX II, ETTL mode and bounced. 1/180 sec @ f5.6, ISO 800.
Day One: Wake up at 7:30, stagger bleary-eyed to the truck and crawl in, drive slowly up to the Adams Morgan Farmers’ Market. Score lots of reasonably priced vegetables from Farmer Mike, aka Michael Tabor, of Licking Creek Farms. Cruise by Mount Pleasant Farmers’ Market to look for herbs. Pick up the 3rd Tomateer, Kristin, and fetch canning jars from 17th Street Hardware. Return home. Chop vegetables. Boil jars. Chop vegetables. Make some pesto with leftover basil. Cut herbs. Chop vegetables. Bring sauce to a boil.
Canon EOS 5D with hotshod 580EX II, ETTL mode and bounced. 1/180 sec @ f5.6, ISO 800.
Chop vegetables. Simmer sauce. Pour into jars. Boil jars. Cool jars. Try not to sweat all over everything but fail miserably.
(My kitchen is tiny. And L-shaped. Since it’s conveniently placed in the middle of our dog-run style apartment, it effectively acts as a windbreak for any breeze that enters either our enormous front window or two back windows. We appreciate the warmth in the winter but the summer… ehhh, not so much.)
Day Two: Eat breakfast.
(Sorry, couldn’t resist sneaking this one in. The light was just gorgeous this morning, softly washing over my salad of homegrown yellow tomatoes, sundried peppers, chickpeas, and leafy greens. Did I mention I grew the tomatoes? ;)
Canon EOS 5D. 1/45 sec @ f3/5, ISO 800.
Then, do it all again, minus the running around with the car and plus guacamole appetizer. Total net: A whole lotta tomato pasta sauce, a whole lotta pesto, and enough leftover Roma tomatoes for a good-sized jar of dried tomatoes, some salsa, some gazpacho, and some more guacamole.
Truth be told, other than the time outlay (probably about 9 hours of work plus 1-2 hours of gathering supplies), canning was much, much easier than I thought. The canning tools we used this weekend were Andrea’s but once I get my own, Fancy Pantry is going to be my new BFF.
The recipe below is courtesy of Andrea’s uncle, conveniently halved for your easy one-day canning enjoyment.
Andrea Sauce
Ingredients
- 1 case of tomatoes, preferably Roma
- 2 massive carrots
- 6-8 bell peppers
- 4 onions
- 2 bunches of Swiss chard
- 1 pt of garlic bulbs
- 1 bunch of Italian parsley
- A whole lotta basil (think a quart Ziploc bag full of basil sprigs)
- Optional: 8-10 sprigs of oregano and thyme
Preparation
- Chop tomatoes in 1-inch chunks. Remove any bad spots. Put into a big ol soup pot (mine is 16 qts but 20 would probably be even better).
- Chop basil, carrots (peel if they are not organic), chard, parsley, and bell peppers and add to tomatoes. Peel garlic and onions, chop and add to tomatoes. Depending on your preference, chop the garlic finely or coarsely or grate it for maximum garlic taste.
- Remove oregano leaves from stem and chop. Chop fresh thyme and stems finely. Add both to tomatoes. Mix thoroughly and bring to a boil. Simmer for 10 minutes and then remove from heat.
- Ladle sauce into prepared canning jars. Process the jars for 45 minutes in a canning bath and then set aside to cool.
- Serve over pasta, preferably when the supermarkets are full of nasty, mealy winter tomatoes. Enjoy!
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