Pure Hunger

It’s been a late season for harvest but the last few weeks have been bountiful. I had more tomatoes, eggplant, zucchini, basil and onions than the local food cooperative. Even though I split a share there was still enough for a family of ten to have enough produce for at least a week. While I enjoy eating fresh vegetables raw, in salads or cooked in soups I didn’t have the time this last few weeks to put into processing those types of meals. While harvesting a few weeks back I heard a fellow member share how he makes a very quick pasta sauce using several of the vegetables. A short email begging for the recipe, 15 minutes of chopping and 2 hours of cooking in the oven produced two bags of sauce.

Ingredients

12 medium Tomatoes
3 small Eggplant
1 medium Zucchini
2 small Onions
4 Garlic cloves
1 bunch Basil
Salt & Pepper to taste

It’s the kind of sauce you could use to top any pasta and impress your guests. It’s full of good nutrition and incredibly easy. The most labor intensive part is chopping. There is no exact science to how many of each vegetable you use other than making sure you have plenty of tomatoes to provide the foundation of the sauce. I put my portions in the sidebar but feel free to experiment with your own preferences. I like a very thick, chunky sauce heavy in vegetables. If you don’t have fresh tomatoes then canned will do. Preheat oven to 325. Put olive oil in bottom of glass lasagna-type pan. Put sliced onions and crushed garlic in the pan. Add sliced zukes, eggplant, peppers (etc) to the pan. Add tomatoes, cut in half or quartered. Sprinkle with salt, chopped basil or other herbs if you wish. Cook 1-2 hours or until desired thickness, stirring as needed. Turn off oven temperature and let cool in oven. Place in ziplock freezer bag and freeze. Will stay fresh for 6-12 months.