My garden has been more prolific than usual this year, and those of you who read this blog often have seen more than your fair share of posts featuring tomatoes as a result. We harvested about 150 pounds of tomatoes this year, and figuring out how to use those requires a fair amount of creativity.

Every summer I make a bunch of roasted tomato soup and can it for winter. It’s easy to make since it does not require peeling the tomatoes. It’s also absolutely delicious and makes a great quick meal when I am hungry and crave comfort food. After making five gallons of soup last year, I learned that we do not need five gallons of soup. Even if it is the best tomato soup around, that’s just way, way, way too much soup for our little family of two. So, after turning our first 40 pounds of tomatoes into jars of soup for our family (plus a few to share!) I declared a moratorium on tomato soup for the season.

Last year I also canned almost two gallons of pasta sauce to eat throughout the winter months. Given how much I love pasta, this was a fabulous choice and the amount was perfect for us. The problem with pasta sauce is that you have to blanch the tomatoes, throw them in an ice bath, peel off the skins, dice them, and *then* you can make the sauce. Oh, so much work! But I did it. About a month ago, I blanched and cooled and peeled and diced for 3 hours one night while playing Princess Bride in the background (“Inconceivable!”) and getting tomato juice and seeds all over every possible surface in my kitchen. It was a real tomato sauce making party.

The next day, my mom told me she had picked out something for my birthday but wasn’t sure if I wanted it. This is a problem when you have a daughter who is a kitchen gadget collector. How do you track all the toys she keeps buying? Mom hemmed and hawed and finally decided to just tell me about the gift to make sure it was something I’d want. I took one look and said, “I have that! It’s a fruit and vegetable strainer for my KitchenAid. It’s how I make gallons of applesauce every year when my tree dumps apples faster than I can bake with them.” My mom looked at me utterly perplexed. “Then why didn’t you use that for your tomatoes last night?” I stared at her blankly. Then it dawned on me. Oh my gosh. This is a fruit and veggie strainer. That’s what it does! It strains out the icky stuff! Oh my gosh… Oh my gosh. Oh. My. Gosh. Hours and hours and hours wasted on a task that could have taken minutes. I could have kicked myself. My dad suggested that instead of buying me nice things for my birthday, they should just buy me instruction manuals. Ha, ha, Dad. Very funny.

No worries, though. My garden had one more 40 pound tomato harvest, so I decided to give it a try. It took a few tries to figure out how to maximize the results, but let me tell you, this is a breeze compared to the way that I used to puree tomatoes! Do you have so many tomatoes that you don’t know what to do with them? Here’s how to puree them with minimal effort. I made a batch of pasta sauce immediately with my puree based largely on this recipe. I adjusted the sugar and spices to taste since I was not using the traditional canned tomatoes. The sauce was so awesome that I canned even more jars for winter. More pasta for us!

tomato puree

1. Place as many racks as you can in the oven evenly spaced apart. Preheat oven to 500 degrees with convection turned on. If you do not have convection, you will need to rotate your pans as you cook.
2. Cut your tomatoes into chunks or slices and place on a pan. Don’t worry too much about how big the pieces are (I just halved or quartered my tomatoes, depending on their size) and certainly don’t bother with making them pretty. They’re about to be pureed. Save the pretty stuff for later.
3. Place the pans in the oven and cook (rotating after 7 minutes if you don’t have convection) for 10-15 minutes, or until the tomatoes are soft and the skins are bursting a bit. Remove and place in a bowl. Refill the pans with any remaining tomatoes and cook again.
4. Ladle the tomatoes into the feed chute of the food mill and watch as the water and puree pours into one bowl and the “ickies” (stems, skins, seeds, cores) plop into another.

Some notes that you should most definitely read:

One, you’ll notice in my set up above that my bowls are all stacked kadiwampus. That’s necessary because the ickies tend to fall backwards into the bowl of puree that you’re making. It’s a bad product design, but there’s nothing I can do about it now, so I have this system set up to ensure that my puree stays pure.

Two, if you don’t heat your tomatoes first, you will lose a lot of the good stuff to the “icky” pile. Just cook ‘em first like I suggested and you will be happy.

Three, my tomatoes are very, very watery. Yours might be too. If that’s the case, boil the puree along with a can or two of tomato paste on medium low for as many hours as it takes to thicken up to the consistency that you’re happy with. If you need to do this, stir the mixture every 30-45 minutes to ensure it doesn’t burn to the bottom.

Four: I would not add flavorings like onions, salt, garlic or any other spices until you want to cook something with your puree. Other than the puree that I reserved for use in pasta sauce, I canned the remaining puree without any additional seasonings so that I can add it to soups and stews later and then adjust seasonings to taste at that time.

The story of these raviolis begins once upon a time in Italy. (Don’t all great stories begin once upon a time in Italy? I do think so…) I was traveling with my husband and we went to a tiny region called Cinque Terra. Cinque Terra is Italian for Five Lands, named after the five adjacent and gorgeous towns built into the hillsides overlooking the ocean.

This region is not just renowned for its beauty. It’s also the birthplace of pesto, and believe me… their pesto is amazing. I made it my goal to eat pesto for every meal except breakfast. In one of the towns I ordered ravioli with pesto at the recommendation of the person seated next to me and it was the best meal I ate during my entire three weeks in Europe. I have always served ravioli with tomato sauce. Why had I not thought to try it with pesto?

As I served ravioli with pesto for dinner the other night, I thought it needed a little something extra to brighten the flavors. Our garden is overflowing with tomatoes, so I chopped up some cherry tomatoes and added that. And then it hit me: party appetizer perfection! Simply serve raviolis with a little dollop of pesto and a half of a cherry tomato on top! Easy to make, easy to serve, easy to eat. Perfect.

I served a hundred dishes at my husband’s birthday party including mojito watermelon, garbanzo bean salad, and dilled cucumbers, and yet everyone’s absolute favorite was these little ravioli appetizers. One of my friends exclaimed, “Even I could make this!” Yes, it’s true. Even *you* can make this!

ravioli bites
a Dishing the Divine original

*note: usually I add Parmesan cheese as the last step in making my pesto. Since these are being served on cheese ravioli, you could omit this extra cheese.

to serve 8 people:

32 cheese raviolis
2 batches of pesto
16 cherry tomatoes

Cook the raviolis according to package directions. Place one teaspoon of pesto on each ravioli. Top with a cherry tomato. Serve.

If you are someone who grew up with meat in your pasta, resist the temptation to add ground beef to this. The recipe is great as is, but if you need meat, try meatballs. My hubby and I found some Chicken & Parmesan meatballs at Costco and those are amazing with this sauce. I still just love it without meat, though!

shirley’s favorite spaghetti sauce

3 tbs olive oil
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 onion, chopped
1 green pepper, chopped
1 (28-oz) can diced tomatoes
1 (12-oz) can tomato paste
2 tbsp sugar
4 tsp dried basil
1 tsp dried oregano
1 1/2 tsp salt
8 oz mushrooms, sliced
1/2 cup red wine, optional
Parmesan cheese for passing

Cut up your veggies!

In a saucepan over medium heat, cook garlic, onion, and green pepper until tender, about 5 minutes. Stir in tomatoes and their liquid and the remaining ingredients.

Cover and reduce heat to low. Cook 20 minutes or until thickened, stirring occasionally. Serve over pasta and pass Parmesan cheese at the table.

If you make this soup with vegetarian chicken broth (yes, such a thing exists ) and omit the chicken, then it’s completely vegetarian. I haven’t tried it with vegetable broth, but I’m sure it would be fine.

No matter which way you make it, I guarantee you’ll love it. I have doubled or tripled this and served it for baby showers and wedding showers. It’s a great make-ahead dish that people can tailor to their own tastes. But don’t wait for a special occasion! Just make a pot for dinner!

tortilla soup

soup

1 tbsp vegetable oil
4 (6-inch) corn tortillas, cut into 1-inch pieces
1 cup diced onion
1 1/2 tbsp minced seeded jalapeno pepper
5 garlic cloves, minced
1 tbsp tomato paste
3 (14.5 ounce) cans diced tomatoes, undrained
1 tbsp cumin
8 cups chicken broth

toppings

4 (6-inch) corn tortillas, cut into 1/4-inch strips
2 cups shredded cooked chicken breast (about one pound)
1 cup diced avocado
1/2 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese
1/2 cup fresh cilantro

First, prep those ingredients for the soup. This soup will be pureed at the end, so don’t worry too much about the size of the chunks.

Heat oil in a large pot over medium-high heat. Add 1-inch tortilla pieces; cook 2 minutes or until crisp, stirring occasionally. Add the onion, jalapeno, and garlic; saute 3 minutes.

Add tomato paste and tomatoes; bring to a simmer and cook 10 minutes.

Stir in cumin and broth. Reduce heat to medium, and simmer, uncovered, for 40 minutes or until reduced to 8 cups.

At this point, if you’re not rushed for time, let your soup cool for a bit. It makes blending it so much easier if you do. Otherwise, the steam in the soup makes it “jump” out of your blender or food processor.

Puree soup using an immersion blender in small batches in your food processor. Return pureed soup to stove and cook over medium-low heat until thoroughly heated.

While the soup is reheating, prep your toppings. For the tortilla crisps, preheat your oven to 400 degrees. Place tortilla pieces on a sheet pan so that they are not overlapping. Cook for about 7 minutes, or until browned and crispy.

Ladle hot soup into bowls. Add the toppings and eat immediately!

easy pot roast with rich tomato gravy

1 beef pot roast, cross rib, or rump, about 3-4 pounds
1 tbs vegetable oil
2 onions, thinly sliced
3 stalks celery, thinly sliced
3 large carrots, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch cubes
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp dry mustard
1/2 tsp dried thyme
1 tsp salt
1/4-1/ tsp pepper
2 tbsp all purpose flour
10 oz tomato soup
1/2 cup condensed beef broth
1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
2 tbsp brown sugar (optional)
2 tbsp balsamic or red wine vinegar (optional)

Pat roast dry with paper towels. In a skillet, heat oil over medium-high heat. Add roast and cook, turning, until brown on all sides, about 7-10 minutes. Transfer to slow cooker.

Reduce heat to medium. Add onions, celery, and carrots to pan and cook, stirring, until vegetables are softened.

Add garlic, mustard, thyme, salt and pepper and cook, stirring, for 1 minute.

Sprinkle mixture with flour and stir. Add tomato soup and beef broth and cook, stirring, until thickened. Stir in Worcestershire sauce.

Pour mixture over roast and cook on Low for 10 to 12 hours or on High for 5 to 6 hours, until meat is very tender. Remove roast from slow cooker and place on a serving platter.

Stir in brown sugar and vinegar, if using, to pan juices. Pour sauce over roast or serve in a separate sauce boat. Serve piping hot.