Summer sunshine on a plate.

Enjoy, enjoy, enjoy!!!

Last summer I was busy roasting tomatoes and freezing them for the winter. The frozen tomatoes filled with summer sunshine are wonderful and nutritious in chilies, sauces, and any dish that calls for tomatoes.

This is the post on the Juliet tomatoes which are so sweet they taste like candy. It shows how to roast Roma or cherry-type tomatoes:

http://michigancottagecook.blogspot.com/2010/09/roasting-tomatoes-saving-sunshine-for.html

Tomatoes at the Holland Farmer's Market summer of 2010.

COTTAGE SPAGHETTI SAUCE MADE WITH SUMMER SUNSHINE

This is how I make my sauce which Tom says the family begs for me to make. You can, of course, use this recipe as a start for how you want to make your sauce and how you want to season it. Taking a recipe and making it yours is what makes cooking fun.

ROASTING TOMATOES TO MAKE THE PUREE

3 lb. Roma tomatoes

9 large cloves garlic, optional

1 large onion, optional

Salt and pepper

Olive oil

http://michigancottagecook.blogspot.com/2010/09/roasting-tomatoes-saving-sunshine-for.html

Thinly slice tomatoes. Peel garlic and onion. Cut onion into large chunks. Place sliced tomatoes on a rimmed 15x10-inch cookie sheet sprayed with non-stick cooking spray. Put garlic cloves and onion chunks around the tomatoes, if desired. Sprinkle with salt. Place in 250° oven for approximately 2 hours or until edges of tomatoes are dry and puckered. Edges should be a little caramelized. Cool slightly. If freezing, put in a freezer bag and freeze. To use, put tomatoes in a blender container and puree until the consistency of applesauce. May need to add a little water to puree, if necessary. There should be approximately 2 cups of tomato sauce. If making puree with cherry tomatoes there will be more liquid than 2 cups which is fine.

Take frozen roasted tomatoes from the freeze and thaw slightly.

Put into blender container.

Puree.

SAUCE INGREDIENTS:
1 lb. ground beef

½ to 1 lb. sweet Italian sausage

1 onion, chopped

1 lb. mushrooms, sliced

Green pepper, chopped, optional

1 can (28oz) crushed, or whole tomatoes

1 cans (12oz) tomato paste

1 ½ tomato paste cans of water

1 t salt, or to taste

5 to 7 t sugar or to taste

2 t dried Italian seasoning

Ingredients: Ground beef, ground Italian sweet sausage, sugar, salt, Italian herb blend, onion, garlic, mushrooms, canned tomatoes, and tomato paste. In the summer I add green pepper and any other fresh vegetable from the Farmer's Market that looks good and would compliment the sauce.

FRESH HERBS IF AVAILABLE

Parsley

Marjoram

Basil

Fennel fond

Rosemary

Thyme

When I made this sauce I had fresh basil and parsley.

Chop herbs to add at the end of cooking the sauce otherwise they can turn a blackish color.

When I make this sauce in the summer, I have my herb boxes outside filled with fresh herbs and I like to chop them and add them to my sauce just before I serve it. I don't add all these herbs when I make it in the winter.

CONDIMENTS

Sliced black olives

Fresh basil, torn or cut in strips

Parmesan cheese

To make a chiffonade of basil for garnishing the plated spaghetti, remove the leaves from the stems.

Stack the leaves on top of each other. Sorry it is blurry.

Roll the leaves up like a cigar.

Slice the roll of leaves making long strips.

Chiffonade of basil.

I like to pass dishes filled with black olives, basil, and Parmesan cheese so everyone can add what they like to their own servings.

TO MAKE THE SAUCE: In a large pan, brown ground beef and drain. Put Italian sausage in the pan the beef was browned in and brown the sausage. Remove from pan and drain. Do not brown the meats together as the ground beef will take on the taste of the sausage. Sauté onion and mushrooms in the same pan. Remove from pan. Add water to deglaze the pan. Return meat/onion/mushrooms to pan and add pureed tomato sauce, diced tomatoes, tomato paste, salt, sugar and Italian seasoning. Cover. Simmer for 1 to 3 hours, stirring occasionally. Taste to adjust seasoning. If available, add fresh herbs at the end of cooking time.