What does summer mean to you? – Neighbors, friends, family, strangers offloading garden abundance
Oh yeah! I haven’t had a garden since I was little, but it never fails that at some point in the season, there’s somebody who is desperate to get rid of dozens of tomatoes, zucchini, cucumbers, or whatever else they planted far too much of.
In this case, a friend of the family steadily supplied us with tomatoes all season long last year. Whatever we could pick, we could have, as they were already over run with picking their own and for family. And there was always tons left even after we walked away with bags’ full.
Aren’t they gorgeous? Yum.
And that giant above? His skin was a bit tough, but he peeled and sliced nicely into large steaks of tomato.
And in case you’re wondering how to use up a large amount of tomatoes in a short amount of time, turn ‘em into pasta sauce. I made my life easier by mass blanching, peeling, and slicing all in one go.
Tip: Stand at a low-sitting table or countertop (this works especially well if you’re short like I am, so you don’t strain your back leaning over). Place the cutting board on the edge and scoop the tomatoes and sauce directly off into a bowl or crockpot on the floor. Don’t worry, you can transfer it all to another dish after, if you’re squeamish about your floors being dirty.
Although if you’re squeamish, I wouldn’t recommend this anyway, because uh, you may get tomato juice between your toes. But it makes it so fast! Hehe.
See? It’s a mess, but from left to right, I had an entire baking sheet of blanched/peeled tomatoes, the cutting board I was using, the diced tomatoes were scooped forward toward myself and the tops pushed to the side. You can also see a crockpot I’d already filled, my laptop, various drinking options, a basket of produce, and the slotted spoon I used to dip out the tomatoes in the background.
I kept blanching continuously until I made it through them all, chopping and dicing during the minute they were in the water. I was through them in no time, but boy did it look a mess for a bit, ha.
Plain ol’ pasta doesn’t have to be plain at all
I really don’t know what to call this dish. After all, it *is* simply rigatoni with sauce and cheese.
Then again, for whatever reason, turning all the noodles upright after cooking and then baking them this way made this dish way more fun….both to make and eat.
It didn’t take very long, but it did take longer than I thought it would. I figured I could do more than one noodle at a time, laying them in bulk, but not a chance. Each one had to be stacked individually.
Doesn’t it look cool when they’re ready, though? And then comes the sauce and cheese. And then more sauce, ‘cause hey, why not?
And then hey, why not some more cheese to melt on top of that?
Yum. Now the tricky part was actually serving it. You see, with all that sauce, the pasta couldn’t exactly stick together, could it?
Notice it going everywhere? (Oh, and those cheese biscuits in the lower left? Also really, really good)
Yeah…. So it might’ve been a little messy….
But it still looked cool in the pan and tasted so much better than just “plain ol’ pasta.”
Wonder where they get that? – When I let the kids cook…
Sometimes, it’s just plain easier to do the cooking myself. You know how it goes….you’re limited on time or patience or the desire to clean up after.
And then sometimes, I’m so happy to let them help.
L created both of these when given the task of chopping pickles and onions for tuna salad. She was in a particularly creative mood and came up with both ideas on her own, surprising me with a cutting board full of quirky food art. <3
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