No Fuss Roasted Tomato Sauce 簡易義大利烤蕃茄醬汁

Just had the Daylight savings time change over the past weekend and the days are getting shorter and shorter, colder and colder now. It's only early November, but I have been wearing my winter coats for nearly a month (while everyone else still has their thin fall jackets on)!

I also noticed that the farmer's market now has fewer vegetable stands. Besides apples, potatoes and a few other vegetables, one thing I still see a lot of is tomatoes (see photos below). The end of the summer and fall season are the best time to buy fresh tomatoes and to make your own homemade tomato sauce. The result tastes better and is healthier than using canned tomatoes or buying canned sauce. The cost of fresh tomatoes here from the farmers' market is really affordable compared to what I used to pay at NY farmer's markets. You can get about 7 lbs. of tomatoes for only $6 (Canadian dollars)! It would be hard not to take advantage of such a good deal!!

  

During this time of the year when the cold winter just starts to kick in and before the holiday season arrives, the market is usually kind of empty.

通常在這個冬季以及聖誕季節快來臨的前夕，除了周末顯得比較熱鬧之外，一般時間特別的冷清

 

I know a lot of recipes require you to peel the skin off the tomatoes or even strain the seeds, but you will see in more and more of my cooking, I always prefer to eat things whole as much as possible so we can benefit the most from their nutrients. The tomato skin has a significant amount of lycopene and beta-carotene, which are great for your heart and bones, and are even anti-cancer! Same with the seeds, there are simply too many valuable nutrients in there that you wouldn't want to miss.

Besides the extra nutrients from the skin and seeds, two more great reasons to leave them in are to give yourself less work and to add more flavor! So stop being a perfectionist and stop worrying about those "rules"! I can assure you that you'll want to use this sauce for your pasta, pizza, meatballs, and many more dishes!

 

No Fuss Roasted Tomato Sauce (Makes about 6 Cups)

 

A: About 6 lbs tomatoes

    4 garlic cloves, with skin on

    A small handful of thyme

Extra Virgin olive oil

Sea salt, pepper

1. Wash the tomatoes well with a vegetable cleaner. *Especially if you are using non-organic tomatoes, which can have a lot residue from pesticides

2. Preheat the oven to 400ºF.

3. Cut the tomatoes in half. *If they're very large, you can quarter them (like I did)

4. Lay ingredients A on a baking sheet. Drizzle with a generous amount of extra-virgin olive oil and season with some salt and pepper

5. Roast for 45-50 minutes until the tomatoes are soft and some of the liquid is evaporated.

6. Remove the tomatoes from the oven and pick out the thyme. Squeeze the garlic flesh and discard the garlic skin.

7. Blend everything - slightly if you like it a little chunky, or until smooth. *If it's a bit watery, you can always cook it down a little before storing.

8. Store in containers (and you can have the option of placing them in the freezer to keep them much longer) or can it in disinfected jars (Click here to read Simple Home Canning).

                                                                                               - Yvonne

前一陣子因為日光節約時間的關係，將時間撥慢了一個小時；最近可以明顯的感覺到白天越來越短，氣溫也越降越低，早在一個月前我就開始穿上冬天的羽毛外套了！(其實這裡真正的魁北客都還只穿著秋季的外套說！)

在老港傳統市場裡也發現賣蔬果的攤子漸漸變少了。除了看到大量的蘋果、馬鈴薯、南瓜類與少數蔬菜類外，蕃茄的數量還算不少。選擇夏季末和秋季採購大量的新鮮蕃茄自製蕃茄醬汁，且儲藏起來以冬天備用是再好不過的了！這裡傳統市場裡新鮮蕃茄的價格，跟之前在紐約比起來真的要便宜多了。加幣六元可以買到約八磅左右的蕃茄，有這種難得的機會，想不買都很難！

我知道一般的蕃茄醬汁食譜都會要你去皮或甚至去籽，但我總是比較喜歡利用整個食物的每一部分，這樣才能完整的得到食物裡該有的養分。番茄皮含有大量的番茄紅素和β-胡蘿蔔素，所以抗氧化能力相當高，把那麼具有營養的一部分除掉真的很可惜。至於蕃茄籽的部分也有很多的寶貴的營養，因此別小看它喔！

當然除了可以從皮和籽得到額外的營養之外，這個食譜還可以讓你輕輕鬆鬆的做出甜美的醬汁。加在義大利麵、比薩、肉丸、或與其他的料理一起食用都很搭，請大家也一起嘗試做看看，這跟一般用罐頭蕃茄做出來的風味別有不同喔！

簡易義大利烤蕃茄醬汁 (約6杯)

 

A: 新鮮蕃茄 約6磅 (2公斤又750克左右)

    蒜頭 4粒 （外皮不需除去）

    百里香 約10支

橄欖油 2大匙

海鹽及黑胡椒

 

1. 將蕃茄以天然的蔬果洗潔劑洗乾淨

2. 先將烤箱預熱至400ºF/200ºC

3. 將蕃茄切一半，如果太大顆也可以像我一樣將它切四等份。

4. 把材料A全都放在烤盤上。滴上一些橄欖油、撒上一點海鹽與黑胡椒

5. 置烤箱中烤45-50分鐘至蕃茄熟軟，汁稍微收乾。

6. 拿出烤箱後將百里香挑出；將烤軟的蒜粒與外皮分開，丟去外皮

7. 以食物調理機將烤好的蕃茄及蒜頭打碎。*可以依個人口感喜好決定打多細。我通常比較喜歡吃起來有一點塊狀的口感，所以我只有打了幾下

8. 將打好的醬汁裝入瓶中放冰箱或冷凍庫保存，或者也可以把它放入消毒過的玻璃瓶，以製造成罐頭保存起來或送朋友。(請按這裡閱讀自製罐頭文章) *若是覺得有點稀，不用擔心，只要在鍋中煮一下就可以稍微收乾了！

                                                                                               - Yvonne

I like the my tomato sauce texture slightly chuncky, but you can simply just blend it more if you like yours on the smooth side

我比較喜歡醬汁中帶點口感，但是若喜歡細膩的口感，可以選擇打碎