The gardening season has drawn to a close here and my home garden is waiting to be completely emptied for winter. As usual in the fall, there are the poor green tomatoes that remain on the plants, seemingly to freeze and fall to the ground before ripening. Well, you still have time to save them and turn them into delicious tomato sauce!
Did you know that you can easily ripen most green tomatoes by bringing them into your home and putting them somewhere dark at room temperature? Some of the super hard and dark green ones will never ripen but it’s worth a shot. If you add an apple or pear to them, the ethylene in those fruits will help with the ripening process.
This past weekend I had about 8 medium sized tomatoes that had just ripened enough to do something with. (I see I now have another small bowl full of them ready in my pantry!) I tend to not be able to go through tomatoes that quickly in salads or sliced on burgers so I thought it would be a great idea to make a sauce out of them that I could use for pasta or soup in the future. This is a super easy thing to do that requires very little time, energy or ingredients. Because you use a blender to completely blend the tomatoes once roasted, you do not have to worry about taking off the skin. This saves a lot of time and also makes it a much healthier choice by retaining all of the fibre. There is no boiling, peeling or canning involved with this recipe, but all of the amazing taste remains!
So if you have some extra tomatoes that you don’t know what to do with and you have a bit of time when you are in the kitchen (piggyback with dinner preparation) to pop them and a few other ingredients in the oven, give it a try! Let the mixture roast and fill your home with that delicious home-cooked aroma. You won’t be disappointed. If you don’t need the sauce right away just pop it in the freezer and use it another time. Just be careful, speaking from experience… if you are using glass jars to freeze in, leave a generous amount of space at the top of the jar. If it is too full, the jar will crack and then your work is all for not.
This recipe will make less than 2 cups of sauce. If you have more tomatoes, just double, triple or quadruple the recipe. The more onion and garlic you add, the more the sauce will take on a lighter orange colour. www.thevibrantveggie.com
Ingredients
Instructions
As usual, I would like to add in some healthy eating education to my post, so here goes…
Why tomatoes?
Tomatoes are juicy and sweet, full of antioxidants and may help fight several diseases.
They are especially high in lycopene, a plant compound that has been linked to improved heart health, cancer prevention and protection against sunburns. They are also high in:
- Vitamin C
- Potassium
- Vitamin K
- Folate
- Beta Carotene
What other great things can tomatoes do for you?
- Increasing evidence from clinical trials shows that lycopene supplementation is effective at lowering LDL cholesterol.
- Observational studies have found links between tomatoes, tomato products, and fewer incidences of prostate, lung- and stomach cancers.
- Studies show that tomatoes and tomato products may reduce the risk of heart disease and several cancers. They are also considered to be beneficial for skin health, and may protect against sunburns.