Roasted Tomato Sauce Fresh from the Garden — In October!

Roasting tomatoes brings depth of flavor

It’s October and the garden is still producing tomatoes — enough to make an awesome fresh tomato sauce! Take that sauce to the next level by roasting the tomatoes to bring a depth of flavor that is a step above just dropping tomatoes in a pot. The bits of char from being in the oven, not to mention the roasted garlic that went in with the tomatoes makes this sauce the perfect homage to the last of summer flavors.

Fall has arrived

It’s definitely fall in the garden but the weather is still warm and the nights are just now dropping into the 50s. Four of my tomato plants are still pumping out ripe tomatoes! They look a bit bedraggled here at the end of the season but the fruit is till luscious.

Tomatoes still producing in October!

I planted four different tomato varieties this past Spring: German Lunchbox, Nature’s Riddle, Spoon and Paul Robeson. I also had one volunteer that produced tons of yellow/green tomatoes that never ripened. They remained hard and wouldn’t ripen on the counter, if I left them on the vine they split. ☹️

Two of the varieties I actually planted didn’t do so well. Not really their fault. I was unexpectedly out of the garden for six weeks during peak growing season. The poor plants faced drought and weeds that nearly choked out everything that had been planted. But two varieties kept on going even with all that adversity! Lol.

The winners are….

The champions are Spoon and Paul Robeson. The first are tiny, tiny tomatoes the size of a small blueberry. I’ve been picking them as soon as they show color because left on the vine to ripen, they split open. They fare far better on the kitchen counter and ripen in just a day or two.

The second champ, Paul Robeson, is a large cherry/small standard sized tomato. It is awesome in salads and made a truly memorable roasted tomato sauce.

Lengthening the Tomato Season

I’ve been lucky this year. It is almost the end of October, my tomatoes are still producing and there’s no frost in sight. If you’re facing colder weather soon, there are a number of devices available to lengthen the growing season. Everything from “walls of water” to more traditional cloches to protect from frost. Territorial Seed had some inexpensive season extenders http://www.territorialseed.com and Gardeners Supply also has a number of options as do many other outlets. http://www.Gardeners.com

Another trick I’ve heard of is if you expect frost in a couple of weeks, top your tomato plants. They will put their energy into ripening the tomatoes on the vine instead of flowering and trying to create new fruit.

Tomatoes can also be picked if they have even a hint of color and they’ll ripen on a counter in the kitchen or on a sunny windowsill.

And of course, who hasn’t picked green tomatoes the evening before a frost is expected. Fried Green Tomatoes!!! Yum!

Oven Roasted Tomato Sauce

I used this sauce to top a simple whole wheat pasta. It is tangy and tomatoey and can be used as a simple Marinara Sauce or as a base to add in other ingredients like black olives, vegan sausage or vegan beef crumbles. For this occasion, I added in some sautéed vegan Italian sausage. I like my pasta sauces with a lot of tang, but if you like yours more on the smooth side, I’d add a bit of cashew cream. Check out Peas in the Garden – Pasta Primavera in the Kitchen for directions on how to make cashew cream.

This dish starts with roasting the tomatoes in the oven for about 40 minutes, until they are getting some charred bits on the skin. The last 10 minutes, toss in a couple of crushed garlic cloves. I used two, but if you like garlic add in more.

While the tomatoes were roasting, I sautéed some vegan Italian sausage in a large skillet, then removed it. When the tomatoes were finished roasting they went into the same pan the sausage was sautéed in. Along with the tomatoes went a bit of good red wine, a dash of tamari, rosemary, oregano and basil.

The tomatoes should cook in the pan for about 30 minutes while you’re getting the pasta going. This allows the raw taste of the red wine to mellow and incorporate into the sauce. Add the sauce to a blender and puree to your desired texture. I made mine fully blitzed but if you like bits of tomato in your sauce, just don’t puree it as long.

Pull the pasta just a minute or so before it’s done and drop it into the sauce, reserving the cooking water. Stir it all together and add at least a cup of the pasta water, more if you like a thinner sauce or your sauce has cooked down too much. If you want to add in extra’s, now is the time to do it.

Serve the pasta with some vegan parm and fresh chopped basil. Add a side salad or green veg and dinner is good to go. Some crusty sour dough would also round this off well.

This dinner used tomatoes, garlic, rosemary, basil and oregano from the garden! 🙂

Makes three to four servings

Ingredients

• 1 lb cherry tomatoes
• 2 cloves of garlic
• 2 tablespoons of olive oil, divided
• 1 tablespoon chopped rosemary
• 1 tablespoon chopped basil
• 1/2 tablespoon chopped oregano
• 1 cup or more of pasta water
• 1/4 cup red wine
• 1 tablespoon of tamari or soy sauce
• 1 teaspoon of salt
• 2 vegan Italian sausages, chopped (I used Tofurkey, Field Roast is good also)
• 4 to 8 ounces of penne pasta, or pasta of choice

Directions

• Preheat the oven to 425 degrees
• Cut the cherry tomatoes in half and place on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
• Drizzle the tomatoes with about 1 tablespoon of olive oil and sprinkle them with salt and pepper. Roast the tomatoes in the oven for about 40 minutes, until they are getting some charred bits on the skin. The last 10 minutes, toss in a couple of crushed garlic cloves.
• While the tomatoes are roasting, sauté vegan Italian sausage in a large skillet in a little bit of olive oil. When browned to your liking, remove it to paper towels.
• When they are finished roasting, add the tomatoes to the same large pan along with wine, chopped herbs, tamari or soy sauce and salt.
• Simmer for 30 minutes.
• Bring water for pasta to a boil, salt and cook pasta according to package directions.
• Add tomato sauce to a blender and blend to desired consistency.
• Return to pan and add in pasta to finish cooking.
• Add 1 cup or more of pasta water to pan to bring sauce to the thickness you prefer.
• Add in cooked vegan sausage and heat two or three minutes to warm the sausage through.
• Top with chopped fresh basil and vegan Parmesan cheese. (Optional)

Notes from the Garden

The weather has been spectacular all month. Although the temps are starting to drop at night, daytimes have been mostly in the 70s. Great weather to be in the garden! Only negative is that it has been more than 30 days with no rain and there’s none in the forecast. To keep plants going, I’ve had to run the sprinkler every week.

My experimental peas are up.

Since they like cooler weather, I thought I’d give them a try for fall. They tend to stop fairly early when I plant them in spring as it warms up so quickly. With the warmer winters, I’m hoping I can get a fall crop.

Broccoli and arugula look amazing!

I’ve never had either one look this good in the garden before. The kohlrabi and Brussels sprouts also look pretty good. So I have my fingers crossed.

As I was cutting back a Heavenly Bamboo plant that was overgrowing the side door to the garage, I uncovered this cardinal’s nest.

Such a work of engineering and art. I tried to limit my use of the side door this past Spring as I knew they were nesting there. So cool to see the nest.😎

I hope you are enjoying lovely fall weather and time in the kitchen and garden.

Judith