Not Quite Srevotfel

Srevotfel is about remaking left-overs and giving them new life as a tasty new dish.  So what would it be when you create something to save fresh ingredients that have, well, seen better days?  Rescue mission?  That doesn't sound right when we're talking about tasty food...  Well, whatever term is appropriate, I have discovered a great way to use up excessive tomatoes without much trouble.

Every Friday and Saturday in Boston, throughout the year, there is an outdoor produce market at Haymarket.  If you're willing to brave the crowds, you can get tons of fruits and veggies at insanely cheap prices (last trip, I ended up toting home about 20 pounds of assorted produce, from bell peppers to grapes to butternut squash, for a grand total of $16).  However, there's always a catch: these fruits and veggies are usually gasping their last breaths, so they need to be used ASAP.  They generally have just enough life to make it through the week (enough time to go stock up again at the next market).  So if you reach the end of the week and still have not used some stuff, it's time to find a rescue recipe.

This week, I found that I had about three pounds of plum tomatoes that were good today, but may not be in two more days.  Why I decided last weekend that I needed four pounds of tomatoes, I cannot tell you. I think it had something to do with the "2lbs for $1.50" sign.  Because you can never have too many tomatoes, right?  Really, I suppose not, because excess tomatoes can become a simple and delicious pasta sauce, and that is always something that you can keep on hand or in the freezer.

Usually when making pasta sauce entirely from scratch, you're supposed to peel the tomatoes.  Um, no thank you.  Lazy solution: roast them.  Based on a recipe I found once upon a time, if you roast tomatoes, you just have to puree them, skins and all.  Sounds perfect to me, and tastes even better.  Especially when I found a few red peppers to throw in as well.  Tomato sauce is something you're not really supposed to have a recipe for (at least in my opinion), so this is merely a guideline.  But it turned out so tasty, I wanted to remember how exactly I made it, so I thought I may as well share it here as well.

Roasted Tomato Sauce

Ingredients

• 3 lbs plum tomatoes
• 2 red bell peppers
• 1 medium onion
• 8 cloves garlic
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1/4 cup red wine
• 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
• 1/2 teaspoon oregano
• 1/4 teaspoon thyme

Heat oven to 350.  Cut tomatoes in half, and cut the onion and peppers into a few large pieces.  Place the vegetables and the garlic in a 9x13 pan, drizzle with oil, season with salt and pepper, and toss to coat.  Roast until all vegetables are tender and beginning to brown.  This will take about an hour and a half.

Once the vegetables are roasted, allow them to cool enough to not injure yourself during the next step.  Puree the vegetables together in a food processor, blender, or immersion blender.  Pour into a saucepan, add remaining ingredients, and simmer for another 20-30 minutes to allow the flavors to meld.

Yields approximately 1 qt sauce.