I love tomatoes.
A lot.
I'm not sure why.
Especially since I eat them in such large quantities.
In fact, lately it has sort of become a source of yearly anticipation for me to await Ontario's bountiful Autumnal harvest.
Growing up out west, there wasn't a whole lot of crops to look forward to in terms of harvest. I mean, the prairies put out a lot of agriculture, arguably more than Ontario, but the kinds of crops are very different.
As an end-user consumer you don't really look forward to the latest crop of canola for example... My family always had a decent garden though, so it's not like we didn't have good organic food available... it just wasn't a massive bounty harvest...
So it happens that I have become a fan of Ontario's growing abilities, given the sheer number of (delicious) foods that it puts out in the fall.
Not the least of these, is TOMATOES.
Oh man.
I am so excited that it is tomato season.
:)
Although I love tomatoes in many different forms and dishes, my favourite is (of course) tomato sauce.
And my favourite tomato for tomato sauce? ROMA.
It shouldn't be a surprise that a Roma tomato should be best for an Italian-based tomato sauce.
They are an absolute must for my Pomodoro Rustico Ragu.
But I like them for anything which requires blending or smooshing them up.
Why?
Well, they have a low water-to-flesh ratio. So that makes for a meaty tomato sauce.
You still have to cook it down a bit, if you want it thick, but that's the fun part!
Just yesterday I made a version of my rustic tomato sauce. I wanted to use up some garlic that I had on hand (I'll tell you why in a second). Oh nevermind, I'll tell you know. I am planning on getting a whole bunch (and hopefully great variety) of great organic local garlic this weekend at the Stratford Garlic Festival.
Garlic, in case you were wondering, is of course one of those other things I've been delighted to discover is part of this wonderful Ontario Autumn harvest bounty.
(I am likely going to have to do some serious preserving of things this fall...)
It'll be my first time at this garlic festival, so hopefully it won't disappoint. If there is garlic there, though, it probably won't... ;)
Onion, garlic, fennel, chili, and some ground oregano, thyme and parsley. Of course the onion and fennel gets cooked (sweated) first.
Oh and some truffle oil. Can't go wrong with truffle oil!!!
Blend that up, and then cook it down.
I like to put a splatter guard on it, rather than a tightly fitting lid. The idea is to have the moisture evaporate, after all.
Culinary Spatterings' culinarily approved spatter guard.
Heh heh heh heh,
After an hour or two simmering away on super low heat, it really does thicken, but you have to stir it up from the bottom to see just how much.
On to some pasta you shall go, and then into my belly!
Muah hah hah ahh hah hah!
Ahhhhhh... tomatoes.
