Tomato Time

It’s tomato time! It’s been a tough year for Minnesota tomatoes what with hail storms, fungus, blight and beetles but there are still some of those big, juicy ripe, red tomatoes to be had. They are so delicious that I would probably pay a premium for them, but if you are willing to buy them by the half bushel and take some hail damaged along with the perfect, you can really get a good buy. I did at the farmer’s market last Saturday.


I quickly sorted out the perfect ones from the not-so-perfect and we enjoyed our salads, BLTs and just slices (with sugar in this household). Then I got to work and made the simplest recipe I have for lots of tomatoes—an all-purpose tomato base. This recipe has several things to recommend it: it is extremely versatile; you don’t have to peel the tomatoes if you have a sieve or an attachment to your stand mixer that works as a strainer-colander and it is done in thirty minutes. Put it into rigid freezer containers, label and freeze. Now you have the makings for dozens of recipes with that wonderful summer tomato taste all winter and tomatoes have sparked the greatest number of recipe ideas of any food I know.

Besides being delicious, tomatoes are a great source of vitamin C (especially when raw), vitamin A, potassium, phosphorus and other minerals and a lot of lycopene which can help prevent prostate cancer. (Lycopene is most useful when tomatoes are cooked). But putting all that aside, they are just plain delicious.

Here is the recipe for the tomato base and some of the endless uses for it:

Tomato Base

3 Tbsp. olive oil
½ cup chopped parsley
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 large onion, sliced
2 ounces ham, diced fine
1 Tbsp. dried basil or ¼ cup fresh basil, chopped
½ tsp. dried thyme or 2 Tbsp. chopped fresh thyme
8 medium tomatoes
3 Tbsp. tomato paste
4 cups beef stock or broth
1 tsp. sugar

Heat oil in Dutch oven or large kettle over medium-high heat. Add next 6 ingredients and saute until onion is soft and golden. Add tomatoes, tomato paste, stock and sugar. Reduce heat and simmer uncovered 30 minutes. Cool slightly, then puree with an inverted blender or in a food processor. Strain out seeds and skins, using a strainer attachment to your stand mixer or the back of a wooden spoon against a mesh strainer.

Taste for seasoning and add additional if necessary. Base may be frozen at this point.

For delicious soup add the any of the following:

Celery stalks, sliced on the bias
Leeks, white part only, washed well and sliced thin
Carrots, sliced or shredded
Potatoes, peeled and chopped
Italian green beans, fresh or frozen
Zucchini, sliced
Cauliflower florets
Baby lima beans or red kidney beans or combination, partially cooked or canned
Peas
Cabbage, cut into strips, steamed briefly, drained and squeezed dry
Sliced Mushrooms
Meatballs

To make soup: Add choice of ingredients from above, starting with those that require longest cooking times, such as potatoes, carrots, cauliflower and lima beans. When partially cooked, add other ingredients. Serve hot, sprinkled with freshly grated Parmesan cheese.

Broiled Tomato-Basil Soup

6 cups tomato base
1 cup (packed) fresh basil, chopped
¼ cup flour
½ cup chicken stock
1 to 3 tsp. sugar
1 tsp. salt
¼ tsp. white pepper
1 cup whipping cream
½ cup Parmesan cheese, freshly grated
Additional Parmesan cheese

Cook base and basil over low heat until simmering. Mix flour and chicken stock and add to simmering soup, Increase heat to high and bring mixture to just below boiling point; reduce heat and simmer uncovered 25 minutes, stirring frequently to prevent scorching. Preheat broiler. Whip cream until stiff and fold in ½ cup Parmesan cheese. Ladle hot soup into individual bowls and dollop whipped cream over top. Sprinkle additional cheese over cream and broil 6 inches from heat about 30 to 60 seconds. Watch carefully to make sure cream does not burn. Serve immediately.

This soup base makes a wonderful start for a spaghetti meat sauce, since onions, garlic and other herbs have already been cooked in. Brown meat and drain well—add to soup base and simmer until thick. You may add tomato paste if you want more thickness.

Huevos Rancheros are wonderful from this base. Ladle 2 cups base into shallow, large skillet; add salsa (jarred or homemade), and hot sauce to taste. Reduce until nearly thick. Break eggs carefully into sauce and cover. Cook slowly until yolks are well-set. Place eggs on warm tortillas, ladle sauce over and sprinkle with grated cheddar or Jack cheese.

There are virtually endless things to do with this base, as you can see. Any chile, enchilada, lasagna, soup or pot roast dish will be enhanced with this sauce. Remember, it will be another year until the tomatoes taste this good again.