This summer I went back to Ontario and spent a day visiting friends in Guelph, the town of my undergrad and a place that gets me irrationally nostalgic. It is also home to a really great place called "The Bookshelf" which is a cafe/bookstore/bar/ cinema. I basically spent 4 years in that building since it provides everything I need for life. On my last trip there I bought the coolest pioneer book ever called Country Wisdom & Know-How: Everything You Need to Know to Live Off the Land. It doesn't come with a bonnet and butter churn, but it might as well. This book is life changing and covers such timeless topics as how to properly skin a rabbit, roofing your horse barn, and proper incubation techniques for duck eggs. It also has a lovely cooking section.
I made the fresh tomato sauce recipe and immediately swore never to buy the pre-made stuff again. Sadly, after contemplating getting rid of all my furniture to make room for a deep freeze solely for frozen tomato sauce preservation, I realized that this might have to be a summer treat. It rulz. Seriously.
Ingredients:
2 Pounds or about 6 medium ripe tomatoes
2 Tbsp extra-virgin oilve oil
1 sweet onion, chopped
3 cloves of garlic (or as much as you can handle), crushed
1 Fistful of fresh basil including flowers
2-3 Tbsp fresh oregano
1 Fistful fresh parsley
1-2 Tbsp honey
salt 'n pepper to taste
Do it:
With a sharp knife, make a shallow cross-shaped cut in the bottom of each tomato.
Bring a large pot of water to boil. Turn off the heat and drop the tomatoes into the water and let stand until the skin looks baggy. Remove tomatoes and let them stand until a little cool (or else they feel like pain-filled hot water grenades when you try and remove the skin), and then just peel off the skin with you hands. Discard skins (or place them all over your face and play "Hannibal hiding in the closet" with a friend). Coarsely chop tomatoes, reserving any juice.
In a sauce pan, saute onions and garlic until somebody says "hey...that smells good". Add tomatoes and juice. Stir in honey. In a blender or food processor (what I hope to get for my b-day. Hint hint.) blend herbs and contents of the sauce pan until desired smoothness is achieved. Return everything to the sauce pan, and add salt, pepper and perhaps even more garlic, herbs, honey, love (if possible).
Serve over fresh spelt pasta with kale, carrots, spinach, chickpeas and asiago, or just drink it directly out of the pan. There's no shame in that.
***Oma's tip for this recipe: Don't forget to share with your baby gorilla, and why don't you call more often (sorry Oma).
