Tomato sauce with frozen roasted romas

I finally made a red sauce that we like!  The color isnt as bright and fresh as a store bought sauce but the flavor is great.  I am happy to have another use for our surplus of tomatoes from summer (they are roasted and frozen).

Sauce

makes a little over 2 qts

olive oil
213g diced carrots
300g diced onions (2 medium)
2085g roasted romas, frozen or partially defrosted
kosher salt
3 tsp garlic powder
2 tsp oregano
1 bay leaf
1 tsp sugar

Saute carrots and onions in large pot in olive oil with a little salt. Cook low and slow till jammy. Add in tomatoes. More salt. Cook for a bit for tomatoes to soften. Turn off heat and let cool just a bit before pureeing.  Puree a lot, till very smooth.  Return to pot to continue cooking. Add remaining ingredients and taste for salt. Cook down just a bit, but it should already be a nice consistency.

Enchiladas

Mike loves this enchilada sauce. I find it a bit too spicy though.  I halved the chipotle once and it was still too spicy for me.  The sauce freezes well so make a double batch.

Enchilada sauce

mostly from Ina Garten's Modern Comfort Food cookbook

(makes enough sauce for a 6-8 enchiladas in a 9x13 pan)

2 tablespoons oil
2 tablespoons flour
1 tablespoon chili powder
1 tablespoon ground chipotle powder
1 teaspoon ground cumin
2 cups broth, chicken or veggie
4 cups roasted tomatoes from the freezer (or use canned)
1 teaspoon dried oregano

fillings, see below
wraps

Preheat the oven to 350

Heat the oil in a large saucepan over medium heat, r whisk in flour. Cook, whisking constantly, for 2 minutes, then whisk in spices (except for oregano). Add broth a little at a time, whisking. Bring to a boil, then simmer until thickened. Stir in tomatoes, oregano, and a teaspoon of salt. Bring this to a boil, then simmer for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.

To assemble, spread some sauce in the bottom of a baking dish (8x8 or 9x13, depending on how many you are serving).  Put your wraps in the pan, so they are in a taco shape.  Add fillings then add sauce, then roll/fold them up.  Cover with more sauce and then cheese.  Bake for 30 minutes till your cheese is melted and sauce is a bit bubbly.

What to put in your enchilada (use wraps, white or whole wheat):

roast chicken
green peppers
black beans, our preference
roast turkey
cheese, goat cheese or cheddar (we prefer cheddar).

Stuffed Shells

 We LOVED these stuffed shells.  We used a jar of homemade sauce from the freezer so the effort was really quite minimal.

Stuffed Shells

serves probably 4-6

3 cups of sauce (homemade or store bought)

2 cups ricotta or chevre

2 1/2 cups of grated mozz (divided)

2 cups of parmesan (divided)

2 egg yolks

1 garlic clove, minced or pressed or grated

12 ounces jumbo shells (or medium sized if you cant find jumbo)

Heat the oven to 375. Bring a large pot of water to boil for the shells.  Cook them till they are almost done but not quite (they will continue to cook in the oven).

Meanwhile, make the filling.  In a medium bowl, combine the ricotta with 1 1/2 cups of the mozz, 1 cup of the parm, the egg yolks, garlic, and a little salt and pepper.  Stir.

Spread half the sauce on the bottom of a 9 x 13 inch baking dish.  Spoon about 2 tablespoons of filling into each shell and place them in the pan.  Cover the shells with the remaining sauce and sprinkle with the remaining cheese.

Cover dish with foil and bake for 30 mins.  Remove the foil and bake until the cheese is melted and the sauce is bubbling, another 15 to 20 minutes.  Let sit for 10 minutes before serving. 

Tomato Jam

This is one of those recipes that gets passed around on a slip of paper without a clue of the origination.  My recipe is on a pink square of paper written in red pen and likely originated from my mom's friend Susie from Florida.

We LOVE tomato jam.  We love it on bread with eggs, on a turkey sandwich, with brie and crackers.  It's a delicious taste of summer.  It needs a lot of tomatoes so I seem to only make it every other year.

Tomato Jam
makes roughly 10 jelly jars worth

20 tomatoes (about 3 quarts) or just fill up your biggest pot
4 cups sugar
2 cups balsamic vinegar (white balsamic is preferred but I only had it the first time)
4 tsp salt

Dice tomatoes (peel and seed if desired or run through a folley, I dont).  Put in largest pot with remaining ingredients and bring it a slow boil.  Reduce heat and simmer until tomatoes have a jam-like consistency.  They will get even more jam-like when they cool.  It can take HOURS to reduce enough so feel free to turn it off and reduce it more later or leave it on barely a simmer while you tackle other things.

Let cool and jar.  I have not canned it.  I prefer to freeze the jars.