Category: Tomatoes

Pepper Steak

Beef, Garlic, Green Pepper, Main Dishes, Rice, Soy Sauce, Tomatoes

A summer classic when the tomatoes are prime

Pepper Steak

Linda Holzheimer

  • 3 T. oil
  • 1 1/2 lbs flank or round steak cut into thin strips
  • 1 clove garlic, minced
  • 1/2 t. salt
  • dash pepper
  • 1/4 t. ginger
  • 1/4 t. sugar
  • 1/4 c. soy sauce
  • 2 green peppers cut into large chunks
  • 1 lb. fresh bean sprouts
  • 1 medium onion, sliced
  • 4 medium sized tomatoes, quartered
  • 2 T. cornstarch
  • 1 c. beef broth

Heat oil in wok or large frying pan.  Add meat, garlic, salt, pepper, ginger and sugar; stir-fry until beef is no longer pink.  Move meat from center of skillet; add soy sauce, green pepper and onion.  Cook, covered about 3 minutes.  Move food from center of wok and add tomatoes and bean sprouts; cook 3 more minutes.  Make a smooth mixture of cornstarch and broth; add to hot mixture.  Stir gently until thickened.  Service over hot white rice.

 

 

BLT

Bacon, lettuce, Main Dishes, Tomatoes

BLTs are always good.  But BLTs in the summertime are awesome.

Tomatoes are the most important part and the tomatoes from our garden were perfect.
Fresh lettuce from our CSA.
Bacon is always good
Lots of mayo and lightly toasted Italian bread and…
perfection
add some chilled Rose and you have your perfect late August dinner

Tomato Jam

Appetizer, Tomatoes
tomato jam on pita crackers

Our supply of tomatoes continues to occupy our kitchen window sill.  A friend at work gave me this recipe after we discussing all the different things we do with tomatoes.  It’s a nice easy way to use up the smaller ones that seem to be all that is left now…and is also very tasty.

our window sill tomatoes
lots of nice spices
the tomatoes as they started to cook. such a nice color.
about an hour and a half later

Tomato Jam

Meg Guncik – who got from New York Times

  • 1 ½ lb good ripe tomatoes (Roma are best), cored and coarsely chopped.
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 2 Tbsp freshly squeezed lime juice
  • 1 Tbsp fresh grated or minced ginger
  • 1 tsp. ground cumin
  • ¼ tsp. ground cinnamon
  • 1/8 tsp. ground cloves
  • 1 tsp. salt
  • 1 jalapeno or other pepper(s), stemmed, seeded and minced (or red pepper flakes or cayenne to taste)

1.         Combine all ingredients in a heavy saucepan.  Bring to boil over medium heat, stirring often.

2.         Reduce heat to simmer, stirring occasionally, until mixture has consistency of thick jam, @ 1 hour, 15 minutes.

3.         Taste and adjust seasoning, then cool and refrigerate until ready to use.  Will keep at least a week.

Meg’s notes:

My Roma tomatoes were so small, I didn’t bother to core them, but I did coarsely chop them.

I usually double this recipe and end up with 2-3 small/medium sized jars.

If you want, after cooking for the hour and 15 min, you can run the mixture through a strainer to get rid of any skins and/or cores.  I did not do that – I used an immersion blender and made it smooth that way.

A few times, I needed to cook it longer to continue to reduce it to the right thickness.

I think it keeps longer than a week.  It’s very good on melba toast or water crackers -it’s not necessarily a breakfast-type jam.

Pasta with Slow Roasted Cherry Tomatoes and Goat Cheese

Goat Cheese, Pasta, Tomatoes
check out the fresh snap peas from our garden too. yummmm.

The ingredients in the refrigerator last night led me to this simple and very tasty pasta recipe.  Roasted tomatoes are wonderful and the goat cheese made it nice and creamy.  Grace announced that this is now her favorite pasta.

roasting makes the tomatoes nice and sweet and flavorful

Below is the recipe that I followed pretty much as is except I cooked the tomatoes at 300 degrees for about an hour and they were perfect.  I also used a different kind of pasta and didn’t have too much basil yet so used a bit of parsley, basil and oregano from the garden.

Pasta with Slow Roasted Cherry Tomatoes and Goat Cheese

Sara Moulton, Sara Moulton Cooks at Home

Ingredients:

  • 2 pounds red and yellow cherry tomatoes
  • 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
  • 2 teaspoons kosher salt
  • 1 pound penne
  • 6 ounces fresh goat cheese
  • 1 cup loosely packed fresh basil leaves, torn into pieces
  • Additional kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

Directions

Preheat the oven to 250 degrees F.

Line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper. Halve each tomato and place cut side up in 1 flat layer on the baking sheets. Drizzle the tomatoes with 1 tablespoon of the olive oil and sprinkle on the salt. Roast until the tomatoes are dried around the edges but still moist, about 2 hours.

Crumble the goat cheese into large chunks and refrigerate until ready to serve the pasta.

Cook the pasta in salted boiling water according to the package directions. Remove 1 cup of the cooking liquid and reserve. Drain the pasta well and return to the pot. Add the tomatoes, goat cheese,basil, reserved cooking liquid, and remaining 2 tablespoons olive oil. Toss well and season with salt and pepper. Serve warm.

Vegetable Lasagna

Broccoli, Main Dishes, Mozarella, Mushrooms, Parmesan, Parsley, Pasta, Spinach, Tomatoes

Jane Brody

  • 1 ½ cups chopped onion (1 ½ large)
  • 2 large cloves , finely minced (2 teaspoons)
  • 6 oz. mushrooms, coarsely chopped
  • 3 T. sherry
  • 1 T. butter or margarine
  • 2 large stalks broccoli chopped (about 4 cups)
  • ½ lb. spinach, washed well and chopped (about 2 cups)
  • ½ t. low salt alternative
  • 16 oz. (2 cups) low-fat cottage cheese
  • 4 oz. part-skim mozzarella, shredded (about 1 cup)
  • 3 T. grated Parmesan
  • ¼ cup chopped fresh parsley or 1 T. dried
  • 2 eggs
  • ¼ t. freshly ground black pepper
  • ¼ t. salt, if desired
  • 3 cups tomato sauce (homemade or canned)
  • 8 oz. lasagna noodles, cooked al dente

In a large skillet, sauté the onion, garlic, and mushrooms in sherry and butter until the vegetables are soft.

Add the chopped broccoli, spinach, and salt.  Stir to combine the ingredients, reduce the heat, cover the skillet, and simmer the mixture for about 5 minutes or until the broccoli is tender-crisp.

In a medium bowl, combine the cottage cheese, mozzarella, Parmesan, parsley, eggs, pepper, and salt.

In a baking pan approximately 13 x 9 x 2 inches, spread ½ cup of tomato sauce on bottom.  Layer the lasagna ingredients as follows: Arrange three strips of lasagna noodles on the bottom.  Spread half of the cheese mixture on noodles, then half of the vegetable mixture, and 1 cup of the tomato sauce.  Repeat, starting from the noodles.  End with a layer of noodles topped with the remaining ½ cup of tomato sauce.  Sprinkle the top of the lasagna with additional Parmesan, if desired.

Bake the lasagna at 375 for 25 minutes.  Let it stand for about 10 minutes before serving it.

Stuffed Shells

Main Dishes, Mozarella, Pasta, Spinach, Tomatoes

Evie Davis

  • 2 boxes jumbo shells
  • 16 oz. Grated mozzarella cheese
  • 15 oz. Ricotta cheese
  • Creamed spinach (see recipe below)
  • Ragu sauce

Cook shells according to package directions.  Mix the cheeses and spinach together and stuff the shells.  Arrange in an oiled baking dish;  pour Ragu over noodles.  Bake at 350 for ½ hour.

Creamed Spinach

  • 2 boxes frozen spinach
  • ½ cup butter
  • 2 T. flour
  • 1 clove garlic, minced
  • 1 pint heavy cream
  • salt and pepper

Cook spinach and drain VERY well.  Melt butter in frying pan and sauté garlic.  Stir in flour, add spinach and gradually add cream.  Cook over low heat for approximately 10 minutes, stirring often.  Season to taste.

Burro Rosso

Cream, Miscellaneous, Parmesan, Tomatoes

Evie Davis

Red Butter sauce for pasta – or for anything.

  • ½ lb. butter
  • 2 t. tomato paste
  • 4 T. heavy cream (milk works fine too!)
  • ½ t. dried sage
  • 1 t. paprika
  • salt
  • 4 T. grated parmesan cheese

bowl of grated parmesan cheese

In a small saucepan melt the butter.  Whisk in the tomato paste and cream.  Add sage, paprika, a little salt to taste, and 4 T. of cheese.  Heat but do not bring to a boil.  Makes enough for 1 lb. of pasta.  Pour over freshly cooked pasta and serve with the bowl of cheese on the side.