I have to admit it. I’m actually kind of proud of myself. Why? Because I did something that allowed me to accomplish three very domestic acts in one fell swoop.
1. Grow something edible in a garden.
2. Use it to make something homemade.
3. Post it to Pinterest.
I don’t know why I feel the urge to do the third one. Maybe my rather diminutive feminine side decided to assert herself today for some reason, like the time when a group of girls asked me who my favorite New Kid was. I didn’t have one, but I noticed no one seemed to be taking Jon or cutting his picture out to put in their lockers. I figured I could use their old copies of Tiger Beat and help myself blend in with others of my kind at the same time. (Kindness and thriftiness double combo!) But enough of that….
What did I grow, you ask? Tomatoes and green peppers! (There are also jalapeños, habaneros, and some watermelons out there.) The onions, zucchini, and garlic are from Publix, but baby steps to “domestic goddess status,” I guess. You can put other veggies in there, too, but these were the ones suggested to me by the friend who gave me the recipe.
To turn all this scrumptious produce into homemade marinara, all you need to do is roughly chop everything into bite-sized pieces, like so…
Then cover the veggies in a liberal coating of olive oil, kosher salt, and black pepper. However, roasted garlic is a little different. All you need to do for it is cut the tip off to expose the bulbs. Then cover it in olive oil and wrap each head up in its own foil pouch.
Put all this deliciousness in the oven (set to 350 degrees or so) for about thirty minutes or until the veggies are soft.
Let them cool off just a bit and then put them in a food processor with the bulbs of roasted garlic, a handful of fresh basil leaves, and some of the juice from the pan.
Blend until combined. It can be as smooth or as chunky as you’d like. However, since I’m freezing some of it, I opted for “well blended.”
Spread the sauce out to let it cool. Then you can either can or freeze it to use whenever you want to make a fresh pot of pasta. Honestly, it’s not that much work, and it tastes amazing!
And now, I can go watch baseball with a clear conscience. Thank goodness.
This looks amazing. Congrats on all of those accomplishments.
Thanks! The cooking thing is in my wheelhouse. I come from a long line of great cooks. (Especially my mother. She’s the real deal.) Gardening, ehhhh, that’s spotty. My great grandmother had a beautiful veggie patch, but we moved around a lot and didn’t ever start one. I’m shocked this one has lived. And with regards to Pinterest, I wouldn’t call that an accomplishment so much as an acquiescence to popular culture! 🙂
Nice. Now that we’ve moved into our new house, my wife is also trying to put our garden to good use. So far, we’ve only had a few herbs, but bigger things are afoot.
It’s a constant process, that much I’ve learned. I can’t imagine what a family did when EVERYTHING they required to live came from the earth. It’s a fun hobby to us, but if it were a life and death thing…well…that’s a horse of a different color.