Too many tomatoes…

I never thought I would think this…but this year I have too many tomatoes.

Many years ago I saved green tomatoes from my humble little garden because I wanted fresh Jersey tomatoes for as long as I could have them, and the last of them turned red on December 5.  Yes, I keep that kind of data.

I heard this morning on the weather that we here in Southern NJ have had 42 days of temperatures over 90 in July and August.  I don’t know if that has anything to do with how many tomatoes I have, but I do know it has a lot to do with how much I don’t feel like cooking or eating dinner.

Here’s a recipe for what to do with all those tomatoes when you don’t feel like cooking or eating.  It uses up your pile of tomatoes.  It utilizes your slow cooker (so there is no added heat to the kitchen).  And it is delicious!

I have  a surplus of plum tomatoes which were available from several farmers at the Collingswood Farmers’ Market.  Hymer Farms, Springdale Farm, DanLynn, Savoie, and even a visiting farmer…Our Yards (those were tiny and supersweet).  Many of the plum tomatoes are the San Marzano variety…one of the best.  But other varieties will do nicely as well.  I like to drop in some yellow plum tomatoes to help lower the acidity.  But, and here’s the beauty of this sauce, you can use plum, slicing, cherry tomatoes.  Mix them up for a delicious sauce.

This is a butter tomato sauce and it is delicious over pastas…all kinds.  Elbows, ziti, spaghetti, ravioli.  What’s your favorite?

Ingredients:
Enough tomatoes of all varieties to fill the crock of your slow cooker.
two tablespoons of olive oil
1 small onion, diced
2 – 3 cloves of fresh garlic
a stick of butter
pinch of sugar

Directions:
Preheat your crockpot to cook on low for six to eight hours.  Put the two tablespoons of  olive oil into the bottom of the crock.  Add the diced onion and the cloves of garlic.

Chop all your tomatoes and pile them in the crock.  Put the butter on top.

Sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste and the pinch of sugar.  Put on the lid and go find a cool spot to read a book.

After three hours or right before you’re going to eat, blend the cooked tomatoes into a sauce with an immersion blender.  If you don’t have one, you really should get one.  The one I have was twenty dollars and is wonderful.  I had an expensive one and it broke shortly after I bought it…simple is better where immersion blenders are concerned.

Once the sauce is blended you are ready to go.  Cook your favorite pasta and top it with the butter tomato sauce right from the slow cooker.  Whatever is left over can be refrigerated for a few days or frozen for a quick meal later on.