RGB mid-summer tomatoes.
August at the RGB means we’re swimming in tomatoes. This month alone we’ve had RGB tomatoes in our pasta, in a pizzetta, under some burrata, over some toast, sliced with salt… and most recently, in homemade tomato sauce.
For us, homemade tomato sauce ranks high on the small effort / big return scale. It only takes about 20 minutes to blanch the tomatoes and dice the onions, and the rest is unattended simmering… so we can multi-task and do other things.
Speaking of other things…
Two weeks ago (and here comes another big announcement), we had our architect and contractors over to the house to review and discuss some preliminary sketches for the KITCHEN REMODEL (which essentially includes knocking down the whole south side of the house and starting over). Uber-excited is an understatement.
First draft of plans.
When we saw this in one our many magazines, we ripped it out immediately. It's officially the inspiration for the RGB kitchen and we can't wait to get started!!!
During the whole three-hour meeting, we left our tomato sauce on the cook-top unattended. And it turned out just fine. So in the spirit of multi-tasking, here are five things you can do around the house while you make a batch of tomato sauce:
- Do a load (or two) of laundry.
- Watch an old movie.
- Wash the car.
- Play fetch with the dog.
- Design a kitchen.
We’ll be honest – there’s nothing really “original” about our tomato sauce recipe, except for the fact that the tomatoes, oregano and thyme are all home-grown, lovingly tended to and hand-picked… compliments of Mr. RGBistro, “gardener extraordinaire.”
Happy Wednesday!
[K]
Poll: Do you de-skin and de-seed your fresh tomatoes when you’re making a tomato sauce? Why or why not?
RGB Garden Tomato Sauce
Garden Tomato Sauce
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~ Makes 5 cups ~
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~ Ingredients ~
- 3 lb. tomatoes
- 2 medium brown onions
- 2 tablespoon olive oil
- 6 medium cloves garlic
- 1 tablespoon dried oregano
- 1 tablespoon dried thyme
- ½ cup dry red wine
- Grind of salt and pepper, to taste
- Optional: splash of red wine vinegar or granulated sugar
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~ Preparation ~
Active Preparation Time: 30 minutes
Inactive Cook Time: 2 hours
Total Preparation Time: 2 hours 30 minutes
- Prepare tomatoes: Fill up half of a large (4-quart) prep bowl with ice water. Fill a 4-quart pot halfway with water; bring to boil. Meanwhile, rinse tomatoes clean and de-stem. On bottom of each tomato, use paring knife to slice an X (about an inch in each direction). In batches of 4-5 at a time (whatever you can manage with one large ladle or wire scoop), blanch tomatoes in pot of boiling water for 30 seconds each, then shock in bath of ice water to stop cooking process. Drain pot to use for cooking tomato sauce and return to stovetop. With paring knife, skin tomatoes, then de-seed into a sieve over a bowl to capture tomato juice. Reserve tomatoes and tomato juice.
- Dice onion and peel and chop garlic. Add two tablespoon olive oil and bring to medium heat. Add onion, salt and pepper, and let cook for 10 minutes. Add garlic, oregano and thyme and cook for another minute (until fragrant).
- Add wine and let reduce into onions and garlic. Then add tomatoes and tomato juice. Bring to boil, then let simmer for 2 hours. If too sweet, add a little red wine vinegar. If too tart, add a little granulated sugar.
Nutrition content per serving: 113 calories, 15g carbs, 2g protein, 5.5g fat, 2.5g fiber
Cost per serving: $1.02 – $3.02
Source: Rustic Garden Bistro
RGB Garden Tomato Sauce
Oh Lord – that kitchen is gonna be sumpin’ – cannot wait until you post the ‘finish’ pictures!! And nope, don’t skin the tomatoes – can run them through the food mill and what I’m left with is absolute tomato gold, baby!
Rarely do I comment anymore no your posts, as I don’t know how to cook any of the things you recommend, however this time I have an opinion. I leave the seeds in but get rid of the skins. I have linked to a fantastic video I have used as inspiration to avoid step 1 of your process….I was shocked but it really works!
The kitchen is gorgeous!
http://www.thekitchn.com/thekitchn/tips-techniques/tip-from-gourmet-crush-tomatoes-with-a-box-grater-061225
Thanks for stopping by. Please don’t be intimidated by our pasta, salad and bivalve recipes. We use real, whole ingredients and write our recipes to reflect that, but they really shouldn’t be too sophisticated. (But if you prefer, we recommend you try Sandra Lee’s recipes – the semi-homemade angle might be closer to what you’re looking for in terms of “ease.”)
And please don’t stop commenting just because you “don’t know how to cook any of the things” we’re writing about. That’s what the “recipe” part of the blog is all about – offering direction and how-tos.
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Beautiful kitchen inspiration! I would die for a place like that to play in.
That’s some excellent inspiration! When I do get aruond to making tomato sauce myself I think I will leave the skins and seeds in. Mostly because it would take more work to sort it all out, and you can’t go wrong with being lazy and calling it “rustic.”
I cannot wait to see the kitchen in the picture above–I can’t believe it’s yours!
I love the inspiration–very warm and welcoming. Tomatoes–I’ve spent hours blanching and peeling tomatoes from our garden by hand and I think it’s worth it in the end. But I also think it’s something you could sort out much faster with a food mill. I guess I’m a masochist–or just cheap!
Because we don’t have ideal gardening conditions (sunlight is kind of spotty with our apartment, as evidenced by my photos), we only use good quality canned tomatoes for sauces and save the raw ones for bruschetta, caprese, salsas frescas and only lightly-warmed pasta dishes. But I completely agree with you on multitasking while making sauce–usually The Godfather or GoodFellas comes on when sauce is made in our kitchen.
I leave the seeds but remove the skins. I’m an impatient person though so I usually just wash and de-stem the tomatoes and then throw them in the pot to start cooking. While they’re cooking, I like to squish them with a spoon which tends to make the skins slip off. Then I sit there and pick the skins out. I don’t think it takes anymore or any less time than blanching them and peeling them but I just prefer to do it that way.