holy tomatoes

My dad has a garden every summer. This year he planted the following: lettuce (green leaf and mesculin), broccoli, cucumbers, potatoes (yellow and sweet), onions (yellow and red), green onions, green beans, peppers, jalapenos, basil, dill, zucchini and of course tomatoes! I am sure there are more that I just cannot think of. He is quite the gardener with his neatly tilled rows, watering system and fencing to keep the rabbits out.

Just a few weeks ago he was telling me that his tomatoes were not doing well because it has just been way to HOT and for too long. Usually the continuously HOT days and nights are great for tomatoes. But the KC heat was taking its toll. A week later he calls to tell me that he and my mom just picked 300 tomatoes - the big hothouse tomatoes and romas!

I thought  myself - you just said they were not doing well how can you have 300!!! I then had the brilliant idea that I wanted to make marinara sauce. I had never made it before but imagined it probably wasn't that difficult. Thanks Barefoot Contessa for the recipe. I blanched, peeled and pureed the tomatoes. And added a handful of garlic cloves, onions basil and red wine. I ended up making 2 batches and 2nd batch I made I did not use the red wine and substituted tomato paste - it turned out a bit richer / thicker. I am pretty proud of myself for trying something new.  I now have 5 jars sitting in the freezer for use.

Thanks Dad for the veggies!