This
past week I wended my way through some local farmers markets in the western
part of Massachusetts, and confirmed the fact that I love pretty colors. I have a tendency to buy vegetables that
aren't the color they're supposed to be (as you will see below). A couple of years ago this led to an orgy of
eggplants, where I tried everything from pure white through lavender to the
standard purple, with a few stripes throw in the middle. (For the record, when
I was a child I dyed applesauce blue and ate it.) This year I was playing with
peppers and carrots and tomatoes.
The heirloom tomatoes were too pretty to pass up, but then I was faced with doing something with them while they were fresh. So I turned to one of my family's favorite tomato sauce recipes.
I
want to say it's a simple sauce, but not quite.
It is simple in flavor and cooking.
But to be honest, it does require a bit of chopping up front, and then
puréeing at the end. You have
choices: one, you can chop up your
tomatoes, cook, then run through a food mill; or two, you can peel your
tomatoes, cook, and stick the sauce into a food processor and whirl away. It's up to you, depending on where you want
to put your effort.
In
terms of the actual cooking, that is simple too—but not short. But you can use that in your favor. Assemble the ingredients in a pan, set the
heat as low as possible, then walk away for an hour, stirring as the spirit
moves you. Come back and mill/puree,
etc. at the end.
Anyway, it's a flavorful way to highlight your tomatoes, and it's a nice change from a traditional tomato sauce for pasta or, in this case, gnocchi, with a lovely color and texture.
Tomato Cream Sauce
½
stick salted butter3 Tblsp finely chopped yellow onion
3 Tblsp finely chopped carrot
2 ½ cups tomatoes, chopped (you can use canned or fresh; if you use fresh, you may need to add a little extra liquid, depending on how juicy the tomatoes are)
1 tsp salt
¼ tsp sugar
½ cup heavy cream
Put
everything except the cream into a saucepan and cook at a bare simmer for an
hour, uncovered. Stir with a wooden
spoon occasionally.
BTW, packaged gnocchi are great to keep on hand--they cook in no time at all, and the go well with almost any sauce.
mmmmmmm, that looks yummy. And since I'm a sucker for gnocchi, love that pairing!
ReplyDeleteLucy, this was a recipe that my daughter actually used to request (and she was a picky eater), so it became a favorite. What I like about it is that the tomato taste comes through well.
ReplyDeleteBeautiful veg - and beautiful sauce! Sounds positively decadent. Will try this weekend, maybe with some tortellini!
ReplyDeleteCream! What a great idea. Our tomatoes are coming in fast. Mostly Romas so far, but they're wonderful for sauces because they're so meaty. I'll have to add a splash of cream!
ReplyDelete~ Krista
Sheila, how easy and delicious. I love a good cream sauce. I love colors, too!
ReplyDelete~Avery aka Daryl