Oh these rainy days, how I am not loving you. This is a recipe to make when you are cuddled up at home, avoiding leaving your house because the sky is looking sinister and if you are anything like me, have an obscene amount of laundry to do but there are always things to cook to comfort you on day like these. 

There is that time of year that I deem most special and I get more excited for than any other actual holiday. I am talking about tomato season. Those glorious few weeks at the end of August/early September that I mark my calendar and take out my granny cart to head down to the farmer’s market to load it up with juicy, sweet and fresh tomatoes.

Tomatoes are on my list of favourite foods along with chocolate, onions, roasted garlic, red wine and hot sauce. But when tomatoes are out of season, they really do suck. They aren’t juicy, sweet and (though I have never tried but I imagine) to taste a lot like Styrofoam. When they are in season I stuff myself full of all the tomatoes I can get my hands on, sometimes just sliced on a plate with a sprinkle of fleur de sel, cherry tomatoes served whole on a deep green salad or slow roasted to perfection and made into a pasta sauce. I was once asked, “Why waste good summertime tomatoes in a slow roast?”

Waste? Please. In season tomatoes shine on their own but slow roasted tomatoes do not have to wait until winter. Slow roasting the tomatoes brings out their natural sweetness so they are no longer tangy or acidic.

Mark came home to the heavenly smell of roasted tomatoes and while we waited for the pasta water came to a boil, we ate some tomatoes straight off the pan, too impatient to wait for the sauce. Sure they take a long time in the oven but they are well worth the effort. Then again, isn’t that true for most things?

Slow Roasted Tomato and Garlic Pasta Sauce

2014-08-31 10:55:50

Serves 4

Slow roasting tomatoes brings out their natural sweetness and when made into a sauce, it is a heavenly combination. Takes a little while but it is entirely worth the effort.This recipe makes 3 cups of pasta sauce and it is enough to coat a little more than a pound of pasta (depending on how your like your pasta dressed).

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Prep Time

30 min

Cook Time

2 hr

Total Time

3 hr 30 min

Prep Time

30 min

Cook Time

2 hr

Total Time

3 hr 30 min

Ingredients

1. 3 pounds local tomatoes, on stem preferred (Roma tomatoes would be a nice choice too)
2. ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
3. 1 teaspoon fine grain sea salt + 1 tablespoon for 4 quarts of pasta cooking water
4. 1 cup lightly packed fresh basil
5. 1/3 cup lightly packed fresh parsley leaves
6. 2 large heads of garlic
7. 1 pound of dried pasta (I chose a spelt fusilli but any tube or spiraled pasta will do)

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 300 degrees and line as many baking sheets you need (and that will fit into the oven) with parchment paper. I fit 4 sheets in my oven and used about 3 pounds of tomatoes.
2. With a pairing knife, cut out the stem of the tomato and discard. Cut the tomatoes into even ½ inch thick slices and transfer to baking sheets.
3. Remove all but one layer of the paper-y skin off the garlic bulbs and cut off just the tops of the heads, exposing the garlic, set on the baking sheet with the tomatoes. Drizzle everything with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper.
4. Roast tomatoes for 2 hours total, flipping tomatoes halfway through roasting time and transfer the bottom baking sheets to the upper oven rack and the top baking sheets to the lower oven rack after flipping. Take out the garlic when you flip the tomatoes and set aside. When cool enough to handle, squeeze out the roasted garlic out of its skin.
5. When the tomatoes are almost ready to be taken out, fill a large pot with water, season with a generous amount of sea salt (“your pasta water should be as salty as the sea” I was once told and it hasn’t let me down yet), bring water to rolling boil and cook your chosen pasta according to the directions to cook it al dente.
6. While your pasta is cooking, stack the basil leaves, roll together and cut into little strips. Finely chop the parsley and transfer both herbs to the bowl of a food processor. Take out the tomatoes from the oven and in batches roughly chop them and transfer to the food processor. Once all the tomatoes are chopped and in the food processor bowl add the skinless roasted garlic cloves, pulse until desired consistency. I wanted a thick, chunky sauce so I pulsed the sauce 10 1-second pulses but if you prefer a smooth sauce, process for longer.
7. Place a bowl in your sink and drain the pasta, reserving some of the pasta water in the bowl. In the now empty pot, add the tomato sauce to heat, adding some pasta water to thin it out if necessary. I added about ½ cup pasta water in total. Add the drained pasta to coat the noodles.
8. Transfer to serving plates, top with more basil and serve immediately.

By Jessica DeMarra

Sprouts & Chocolate http://www.sproutsandchocolate.com/

The post Slow Roasted Tomato and Garlic Pasta Sauce appeared first on Sprouts & Chocolate.

Five new posts a week? While working full time? And in school? Have I gone mad? Not yet but it is safe to say after this month I just might but before the crazies set in, I am really pumped about the challenge! If this is your first time to my site, welcome! I’m glad VeganMoFo has brought you here and I can’t wait to see everyone else’s sites and contributions to this month-long experience.

 So now for the first recipe and it is a good one….

I am excited that is one is my first because it is a household favourite and a carnivore pleaser: the crisp corn meal dusted crust, the rich garlicky cream sauce and topped with cherry tomatoes, arugula and fresh herbs, what is not to love about it? The fact that the dough is made in the food processor and doesn’t take all day to rise is just an added bonus. You do however need a thermometer to take the temperature of the water: too hot will kill the yeast, too cold the yeast won’t activate. Yeast is a finicky thing, like the Goldilocks of ingredients it needs to be just right.

 There are a few steps to this recipe to make the dough and the sauce but here is an action plan I have formulated over the many times I have made this dish:

Step 1: Put a small pot (with a tight fitting lid) of water on to boil

Step 2: Make the dough and cover with lightly oiled plastic wrap

Step 3: When the water is boiling, add the cashews, take off the heat and cover with the lid. This is the quick soak method to make the cashews soft and blendable.

Step 4: Pan roast the garlic and prep the thyme

Step 5: Set oven rack on lowest slot and preheat oven

Step 6: Prep the dough for the pan and let it rest

Step 7: Make the sauce while the dough is resting

Step 8: Bake the dough and chop the basil and tomatoes

Step 9: Take dough out of the oven and top

Step 10: Cut into eight pieces and serve!

When you break down a recipe into a game plan, it makes it a lot less daunting and I like lists, it is satisfying to check off each step as you go. I did my recipe/instructions layout a little differently (photos in the steps) and listed off ingredients based on their step, so be sure to read it all through to ensure you aren’t missed anything.

I personally like this dish topped with my chosen ingredients but you can top it with anything you like: caramelized onions, capers, olives, spinach etc. but don’t skip the cream sauce. It is so delicious and easy to make. Mark and I scrapped every last bit of this sauce from the bowl of the processor with the crusts of the dough. Change the toppings all you like but keep the sauce!

 I hope this recipe shows you how easy dough can be made at home with a little patience and planning. Happy VeganMoFo!

Action Plan

Step 1: Boil water (enough to cover the cashews) in a small pot with a tight fitting lid

Step 2: Make the dough, adapted from America’s Test Kitchen: Cook’s Illustrated Pissaladière 

 Dough Ingredients:

• 1 cup whole wheat bread flour
• 1 cup white bread flour
• 1 teaspoon instant or rapid rise yeast
• ¾ teaspoon fine grain sea salt
• 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil + more to oil the bowl and fingers
• 1 cup of water, warmed to 110 degrees Fahrenheit
•  2 tablespoons corn meal (for step 6, set aside until this step)

Pulse the dry ingredients 5 times in the bowl of the food processor fitted with the S-blade. With the food processor running, slowly add the oil, then the water; process until a ball forms, about 20 seconds.

Take the dough out to a lightly floured counter and smooth into a ball. Lightly oil a large bowl and place the dough into the bowl.

Cover the bowl tightly with lightly oiled plastic wrap and let rise at room temperature for 1 hour (it will double size).

Clean out the bowl of the food processor since you will be using it for the sauce.

 Step 3: Quick soak the cashews

• 1 cup raw cashews

 Add cashews to the boiling water, take off heat, cover with a tight fitting lid and set aside for at least 1 hour while the dough rises.

 Step 4: Pan roasted the garlic and prep the thyme

•  2 large garlic cloves
• 1 teaspoon finely chopped fresh thyme

Peel the cloves leaving on a single layer of the papery skin. Heat a small skillet over medium heat and add the whole cloves onto the dry pan. Flip when the garlic paper has become brown and spotty. Remove garlic from the pan when the garlic skin is brown on both sides and the clove feels soft. When cool enough to handle peel the skin off the garlic and chop.

While the garlic is cooling prep the thyme and chop finely.

Step 5: Set an oven rack to the lowest slot setting and preheat the oven to 500 degrees.

My oven takes a little time to get to the high of a temperature and you want it to be HOT in there so your dough crisps up on the bottom.

Step 6: Prep the dough for the pan and let it rest

Transfer the now expanded dough from the oiled bowl to a lightly floured counter top. With floured hands, form the dough into a large ball. Cover with lightly oiled plastic wrap and let rest for 10 minutes. Meanwhile, take out a large heavy-duty broiler pan and cut a slice of parchment paper large enough to slightly hang over the pan. Sprinkle the sheet with the cornmeal.

After the dough has rest, oil your fingers and palms. Hold the dough up and gently stretch it out to but making sure the dough doesn’t tear (if it does, just pinch it back together once it is on the pan). Transfer stretched dough to the cornmeal-dusted pan and knead the dough all around the pan so it is uniform thickness. I always think about my cat when she wants to find a comfy spot, just kneading and dimpling the dough with your fingertips and palms. Once the dough is roughly the same thickness all around, poke the dough all around with a fork so it doesn’t puff up. Let the dough rest for 5 minutes in the pan.

 Step 7: Make the sauce while the dough is resting

 Roasted Garlic Cream Sauce

•  1 cup raw cashews, quick soaked (check!)
• 2 large garlic cloves, pan roasted and chopped (check!)
• ½ teaspoon finely chopped fresh thyme (check!)
• 2 tablespoons nutritional yeast
• ½ teaspoon fine grain sea salt
• ¼ cup water

Drain the cashews and add all ingredients to the now-clean bowl of the food processor. Blend for 5 minutes, scraping down the mix as needed. A high-powered blender could also get this job done but the sauce is really thick and very difficult to remove for the blender. The food processor takes a little bit longer but it is worth the wait to make sure you get all the sauce out.

 Step 8: Bake the dough and chop the basil and tomatoes

• pint of cherry tomatoes
• 1 cup lightly packed basil

 In the now very hot oven, place pan on the bottom rack and bake for 13-15 minutes. While the dough is baking, chop the basil and tomatoes.

 Step 9: Take the dough out of the oven and top

Transfer the flatbread to a cutting board and remove parchment. This is the fun part: putting on your toppings.

Step 10: Cut into eight pieces and serve!

I cut the flatbread across and then down the middle. Time to eat! Everyone’s favourite step. 

The post Cherry Tomato, Arugula and Herb Pissaladière with Roasted Garlic Cream Sauce appeared first on Sprouts & Chocolate.