Tomato Time!

Tomato Salad

The other night we went to the monthly vegetarian dinner at Kaya in the Strip District.  They offer a prix fixe four course vegetarian/vegan menu on the third Wednesday of each month.  From the dishes they served this month, it is clear that this is corn and tomato season!

Penne with Tomato Vodka Sauce

So no surprise this week when I received 7 or 8 nice, plump roma tomatoes in the
CRO delivery along with a bright box of grape tomatoes.  I don't love overripe tomatoes so I try to use these sooner rather than later.  I have a very quick and easy tomato vodka sauce for penne that I love.  You can make this recipe with a 28-oz can of crushed tomatoes in winter, but in summer, when the tomatoes are freshly picked, I like to go the extra mile and prepare the tomatoes for sauce. This means removing the skins and seeds.  The procedure is in the recipe below.  While it might seem like a little bit of trouble, the results are worth it.

Remove stems, skin, and seeds from the tomatoes by blanching.

Penne with Tomato Vodka Sauce

1 lb penne pasta
6-8 ripe CRO roma tomatoes (use all you received plus any left from last week)
1 small onion, diced (or use some of the CRO candy onion - a few slices should do it)
1/4 cup vodka
1 Tbs chopped fresh marjoram or 1 tsp dried
1/2 cup non-dairy milk (I used rice milk)

Roughly chop the tomatoes before adding them to the pot.

1/2 cup white beans (any white bean), cooked or canned and drained/rinsed

Removing the tomato skins and seeds


Here's a trick you may not know: put the tomatoes in a large pot of boiling water for 1 minute then remove them with a slotted spoon to a bowl of cold water (the fancy name for this is blanching).  When they have cooled, remove the stem with the tip of a knife.  Now you can just peel off the skins with your fingers.  The skins should practically slide off the tomatoes.  Then cut the tomatoes in half and squeeze or scrape out the seeds.  You don't need to be militant about this - just get most of the seeds.  Finally, chop the tomatoes roughly.

Preparing the Sauce
Heat the olive oil in a soup pot over medium heat.  Add the onion, cover, and sauté 5-7 minutes until the onions are translucent.  Add the vodka to the pot and let cook 1 minute to burn off the alcohol.  Add the tomatoes and marjoram and simmer about 10-15 minutes.  Use the back of a spoon to crush the tomatoes as they cook.  

While the tomatoes are cooking, place the non-dairy milk and white beans in a blender or food processor and process until smooth.  When the tomatoes have sort of fallen apart and are cooked, add 1 cup of the sauce to the blender and process again until smooth.  Add the puree back to the pot with the sauce.  Add the cooked pasta and stir.  Serve immediately
Serves 4.


I served the pasta with a side of this simple tomato salad.  You can make this while the sauce is cooking.

Tomato Salad

1/2 box CRO multi-colored grape tomatoes, quartered

2 slices CRO Candy Onion, chopped

1 handful fresh basil leaves, torn or snipped into small pieces

1 tsp olive oil

1 Tbs balsamic vinegar

Combine tomatoes, onion, and basil in a medium bowl.  Sprinkle with olive oil and toss.  Sprinkle with the balsamic vinegar and toss again.  Serve immediately or refrigerate to marinate which really brings out the flavors.

Serves 3-4.