If you're like me you're probably wondering what you are gonna do with all these tomatoes.
CAPRESE SALAD:
I eyeballed everything but my best guess is:
4 c plum tomatoes cut into cubey wedgy shapes (about an inch sq or a bit more is good)
1/4 c extra virgin olive oil
1/8 c balsamic vinaigrette
It's hard to measure loose leaf basil, but like 1/2 c if you jammed it in the cup pretty good. Probably a 1/2 oz leaf dry weight.
Sea salt to taste (I probably used a Tbsp)
Fresh ground pepper to taste
some other "italian herbs" like oregano or whatever you have (optional)
1/2 a diced onion (optional)
Fresh mozzarella, sliced (I omitted this b/c I don't like it)
Put it in a container with a tight lid (tupperware here) and shake it around, then leave it in your fridge, the flavors infuse into the oil and vinegar and soak into the tomato.
Still have pounds of tomatoes to roast or sundry... or something. Maybe homemade ketchup or tomato sauce canned.
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I found this: HOMEMADE TOMATO SAUCE
Yield: About 4 cups sauce
4 pounds tomatoes (some swear by romas, I’ve had success with all varieties)
1/4 cup olive oil
2 to 3 small cloves of garlic
1/2 teaspoon salt plus more to taste
Slivers of fresh basil, to finish
Peel your tomatoes: Bring a pot of water to boil. Cut a small X at the bottom of each tomato. Blanche the tomatoes in the boiling water for 10 to 30 seconds, then either rinse under cold water or shock in an ice water bath. Peeling the tomatoes should now be a cinch. If one gives you trouble, toss it back in the boiling water for another 10 seconds until the skin loosens up. Discard the skins.
Finish preparing your tomatoes: If using plum tomatoes, halve each lengthwise. If using beefsteak or another round variety, quarter them. Squeeze the seeds out over a strainer over a bowl and reserve the juices. Either coarsely chop you tomatoes on a cutting board or use a potato masher to do so in your pot, as you cook them in a bit.
Prepare your vegetables: mince garlic, whatever other veggies you might add. (carrots celery onion mushroom, I kept this recipe simple)
Cook your sauce: Heat your olive oil in a large pot over meduim. Cook your garlic (and other veggies). Add your tomatoes and bring to a simmer, lowering the heat to medium-low to keep it at a gentle simmer. If you haven’t chopped them yet, use a potato masher to break them up as you cook them. Simmer your sauce, stirring occasionally. At 30 minutes, you’ll have a fine pot of tomato sauce, but at 45 minutes, you might just find tomato sauce nirvana: more caramelized flavors, more harmonized texture.
If your sauce seems to be getting thicker than you want it to be, add back the reserved tomato juice as need. Season with 1/2 teaspoon salt and more to taste. I like somewhere between 1/2 and 1 teaspoon for 4 pounds of tomatoes. Scatter fresh basil over the pot before serving. Taste once more. Swear you’ll never buy jarred sauce again.
There are innumerable ways to tweak your tomato sauce. Some like a pinch of red pepper flakes cooked with carrots/celery/garlic and onion in the beginning. Some add them at the end. Some swear by a glug of red wine added with the tomatoes. Others insist that a tablespoon of tomato paste will give your relatively quick-cooked sauce a longer-cooked flavor.
Tomatoes heh
"The world is his, who can see through it's pretension...see it to be a lie, and you have already dealt it its final blow..." -Ralph W. Emerson