Tomato Rejects from the Farmer’s Market – My Favorite!!!

While at the Farmer’s Market yesterday, the tomatoes were at their finest – deep red and oh so sweet!!    I immediately bought some at regular price because I knew that we would be enjoying them for a delicious salad once we got home.  They were perfect in every way.  As I was paying for them, an idea quickly popped into my head.  What about all those “ugly” tomatoes that are already too ripe?  Would they sell them to me?  So…I asked!  Oh, yes, they are under the table in a bin and we are selling them at half price!  So, back to the tomato table I went and began my forage in the “ugly” tomato bin.  Yes, some were cracked….yes, some were even starting to get moldy….so I realized that I was going to have to check each one carefully to make sure they were acceptable.  I came out with a bag of “ugly”, but not sickly, tomatoes.  These were going to become some marinara sauce!!  I couldn’t wait to get started.

Once home, I put a pot of boiling water on the stove. I washed the “uglies”, cut a little slit in the skin on both ends, and dropped them (2 at a time) into the boiling water for about a minute.  From there I transferred them to a bowl of cold water to stop their cooking.  I continued this process until I had blanched all the tomatoes.  Once done, I started peeling the skins.  They all came off perfectly.  Now I had a collection of whole peeled tomatoes on my cutting board.  OK, so now I needed to seed them.  This proved to be a bit of a challenge.  Many years ago I had bought a Moulinex food mill, which I have to say, I have never used.  Unfortunately, I couldn’t really remember how to assemble it, but after a few trys, I got it!  So….not remembering if the food needed to be cooked or raw, I tried to seed my yet uncooked tomatoes.  No luck!  Turned the blade one way – nothing.  Turned the blade the other way – again nothing.  It was starting to look like I was going to have to seed the tomatoes by hand.  OK…so I began the process, but of course, some seeds stayed behind.  Now, I don’t mind a few seeds in my sauce – I never really seem to notice them.  Therefore, I didn’t let this bother me.  Seeded and chopped, the tomatoes were now ready to be cooked.  I placed a healthy amount of olive oil in a pot and sauteed a generous amount of chopped onions, garlic and celery until they were soft and a bit golden.  To this I added the tomatoes and some chopped basil, along with some salt and pepper.  I let this simmer slowly for about an hour, adjusting the spices as needed. 

Once again, I decided to try the food mill to see if I could break down the tomato chunks (and yes, pull out the remaining seeds) on my cooked tomatoes.  The mill turned easier with the softer food, but all I got was tomato juice!!!  Forget it, I decided!  So, I got out my trusty hand-held blender and worked away at the sauce.  The consistency was perfect!  The sweetness of the tomatoes created a beautiful marinara sauce which I divided into several containers and put into the freezer to enjoy whenever I need this tasty summer treat!    Even though these tomatoes were ugly, they sure turned out some of the sweeetest sauce ever!