Toe-may-toe, Tah-mah-toe

Since the tomatoes are finally abundant I thought I would share some of my favorite tomato recipes.  Sorry, I'm extremely guilty of eyeballing things in the kitchen so my measurements might be off.  Adjust ingredients to taste and remember, you can always add but you can never take away. 

Jessica’s Basic Spaghetti sauce

Olive oil

At least 3 cloves of garlic

Several sprigs of oregano, basil, rosemary, and thyme

1 small onion

About 3lbs of tomatoes

Smoked paprika

Crushed red pepper (optional)

Pinch of sugar

Finely slice onion and chop garlic.

Heat olive oil in a pot with the garlic, onion, and herbs (only if fresh) on medium-low for about 15 minutes or whenever the onions get soft and the herbs are wilted.

Process tomatoes to desired consistency in food processor or chop as you like them.  I usually puree 2/3rds and coarsely chop the last 3^rd.  Parker likes smooth sauce and I like chunky so this seems to be a good compromise. 

Add tomatoes to the pot.  Increase heat to medium.  Add a dash or 3 of paprika and a pinch of sugar.  Sometimes, if I want a fiery sauce I’ll add crushed red pepper as well.

Once the sauce begins to bubble and is heated through you can add your cooked pasta to the pot and toss (for the authentic Italian way) or you can serve the sauce over the pasta. 

Usually, I start the pasta water the same time I start my sauce so they finish at the same time.

This next one is an adaptation of a recipe I found online last night as Parker and I sat in our recliners and stared at each other asking "What do you want for supper?"  The original recipe is here Tomato Artichoke Chicken  I had to change somethings because Parker doesn't like peppers much and the only mozzarella we had was in the form of string cheese.  I left the peppers out and I chopped up the string cheese.  Once the chicken was in the baking dish I dumped a generous amount of the left over stuffing on top of the chicken, studded it with more sting cheese coins and then a slice of smoked provolone.  Once the chicken came out of the oven I sprinkled a pinch of shredded Colby-Jack on top.  (We really really like cheese).
Despite the fact that when it was all said and done there was a TON of liquid in the bottom of the baking dish the chicken turned out quite dry.  I was VERY please to have a ton of the stuffing mix left over because it tasted AMAZING.  So, I thickened it up with a bit of cornstarch and voila!  perfect sauce!  So, because I didn't follow the instructions perfectly I thought I'd better get this written down before I forget.  I can definitely see this being used again.

Tomato Artichoke stuffing/sauce

6-8 tomatoes

1 can of artichoke hearts drained

4 cloves of garlic

1 very small red onion

Red wine vinegar (can use lemon juice instead)

3 Tbl Olive oil

Basil, oregano, thyme, rosemary

In a food processor coarsely chop the garlic, onion, and artichoke hearts.  Add tomatoes.  Chop until fine but don’t puree.

Heat olive oil and herbs over medium low heat until herbs are wilted and soft.  Add tomato mixture and a few splashes of red wine vinegar (you can use lemon juice instead... you just want a tiny bit more acid to brighten the flavor).  Heat on medium stirring occasionally.  Once it’s satisfactorily heated through you can use it to stuff chicken breasts, or toss with chunks of cooked chicken. It’d probably be really good as bruchetta as well. Or you can thicken with a bit of cornstarch and use it as a sauce.