Dumplings and Turkey Stew Make the Best Thanksgiving Left-Overs

We loved our Thanksgiving. Even though it was smaller than in other years. Five instead of twenty-five. Even thought it was outside on the patio where the fall leaves fell onto our plates instead of inside our warm and cozy house. We had time to have real conversations in an unhurried way. 

After the delights of Thanksgiving, then come the left-overs. Open faced sandwiches with turkey and turkey liver pate. Turkey soup made from the stock of Thanksgiving's bones and bits. And, my favorite, dumplings and turkey stew. The absolute best comfort food. 

The basics are straightforward. Cooked turkey meat. A handful of favorite vegetables. A cup of white flour. A bit of half and half. A cube of butter. Homemade turkey stock. A few seasonings.

Simmer. Cover. Uncover and serve! Easy and delicious.

Farm-to-Table Vegetables, Turkey and Dumplings

Use a good quality organic turkey and buy farmers market produce when available. 

If you have dried whole shiitake mushrooms, use them. They add a distinctive flavor, different from the delicate flavor of thinly sliced shiitakes.

Use vegetables you love. And lots of them. English peas. Squash rounds. Kabocha chunks. Roasted sweet potatoes. Green beans. Kale. Shredded cabbage. Chopped turnips. My preference is to tilt the balance towards the fresh produce, plating great mounds of vegetables with a leg and a wing or two pieces of breast.

The dish can be covered and served the next day or divided into smaller covered containers and frozen for up to three months.

Yield: 4 servings

Time to prep: 15 minutes (if you already have turkey stock) or 1 hour (including time to make turkey stock)

Time to cook: 30 minutes

Total time: 45 minutes - 1 hour 30 minutes

Ingredients

4 cups cooked turkey meat, cut into quarter sized pieces, no bones
1 medium yellow onion, washed, ends trimmed, outer skin removed, cut into 1/2" pieces
1 cup green beans, washed, ends removed, cut into 1" long pieces
1 cup broccoli florets, washed and cut into 1" pieces or broccoli leaves, washed, shredded
2 cups shiitake mushrooms, washed, stem end trimmed, thinly sliced or 2 cups dried whole shiitake mushrooms, washed
1/4 cup Italian parsley, leaves only, washed, finely chopped
1 garlic, peeled, finely chopped (optional)
1/2 cup celery, washed, ends trimmed, cut into 1/2" pieces (optional)
4 cups homemade turkey stock, as described below
1 large carrot, washed, trimmed, peeled, cut into 1/2" thick rounds
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
Pinch freshly ground black pepper
Pinch cayenne powder (optional)

Dumpling ingredients

1 cup all-purpose flour, white
2 tablespoons sweet (unsalted) butter, cut into fine bits
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
Pinch freshly ground black pepper

1 scallion, washed, ends trimmed, green and white parts finely chopped or 2 tablespoons Italian parsley, leaves only, washed, finely chopped (optional)
1/2-1/3 cup half and half, cream or whole milk

Directions

The turkey stock cooks as we're enjoying Thanksgiving dinner. As I carve, I put the bones and carcass into a large pot. Cover with water plus four more cups and simmer covered for 45 minutes. Strain through a colander, reserving liquid in a bowl. Let the carcass cool and remove the meat.

Use what stock is needed for the dish, reserving the rest covered in the refrigerator for up to three days or in the freezer for up to six months. The meat pulled off the carcass can be added to the braise or submerged in stock and frozen for later use.

In a mixing bowl, add flour, cut up butter, scallion (or Italian parsley), baking soda, sea salt and black pepper. Using a fork, mix well. Slowly add milk, stirring until thickened. The resulting mixture should be like thick batter. If the mixture is too runny, add a tablespoon of flour. Cover and set aside.

In a large pot, heat olive oil and sauté onions and garlic (optional) with oil until softened. Add cooked turkey and vegetables. Season with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper. Add turkey stock.  Stir and simmer 20 minutes.

To make the dumplings, use two soup spoons to create small rounds of dough. Drop each dumpling into the simmering liquid. Make room for each dumpling so they do not touch because they will expand as they cook. Use all the dumplings batter and cover.

Adjust the heat so the stock simmers but does not boil.

Cook 30 minutes and serve immediately. Place several dumplings into each bowl, adding a protein and a good helping of vegetables with several tablespoons of sauce.

Serve hot.

Thanksgiving's Best Appetizer: Turkey Liver Pâté

Usually we order a twenty pound turkey to feed the twenty to twenty-five friends and family who gather at our home for Thanksgiving.

In this 2020-COVID year, we only need a twelve pound turkey for the five of us. That will leave us a good supply of left-overs that we can turn into turkey stew with dumplings, turkey salad and turkey sandwiches. With the bones we can make several quarts of turkey stock to freeze in pint-sized containers to use during the winter when we crave comfort-food turkey soup with vegetables.

With a smaller guest list finalized and our favorite recipes organized, there is only one unanswered question: what to do with the turkey liver?

Even people who love chicken livers view turkey liver as too much of a good thing.

Whoever has the job of prepping the turkey on Thanksgiving Day frequently looks with bewilderment at the large double-lobed liver in the bag tucked ever so neatly inside the turkey.

Following my mother’s lead, my solution is to turn lemons into lemonade or, in this case, turkey liver into pate.

My mother prepared chicken chopped liver using a shallow wooden bowl and a beat-up, double-handled, single-bladed mezzaluna knife that her mother had given her.

She would cut up and sauté the liver with a chopped up onion. Two eggs would go into boiling water. Once hard-boiled, they would join the sautéed liver and onion in the wooden bowl, which she would hand to me along with the mezzaluna.

While she prepared the chicken, she put me to work.

As a 9-year-old, I would sit on a stool with the wooden bowl on my lap, rocking the mezzaluna back and forth, chopping up the livers and hard-boiled eggs.

Periodically my mother would check on my progress and, when everything was reduced to a fine chop, she would retrieve the bowl, add melted chicken fat and mix everything together.

Just before our guests arrived, she transferred the chopped liver to a serving bowl and put it on the dining room table with a plate of saltines and the other appetizers, a platter of black pitted olives, whole radishes and vegetable crudités.

I have adapted her recipe to use turkey liver. The result is the same. A creamy, tasty, fat-satisfying umami flavor.

Mushroom and Turkey Liver Pâté

My mother liked her chopped liver rustic style. It is a matter of taste, but I prefer turkey liver when it is made with a food processor, creating a smooth pâté.

To balance the richness of the liver, the pâté needs sweetness (caramelized onions), saltiness (sea salt), heat (black pepper) and earthiness (hard-boiled egg and mushrooms).

Serves 8

Ingredients

1 turkey liver, approximately ½ cup

2 fresh, large eggs

2 medium yellow onions, ends and peel removed, washed, roughly chopped

2 cups mushrooms, brown, shiitake or portabella, washed, roughly chopped

¼ cup Italian parsley, washed, leaves only, roughly chopped

2 garlic cloves, skins removed, washed, finely chopped (optional)

2 tablespoons sweet butter

¼ cup olive oil

Sea salt and black pepper

Directions

1. Wash the uncooked liver and pat dry. Using a sharp paring knife, remove and discard all fat and membranes. Cut liver into half-dollar-sized pieces.
2. Place the eggs into a pot of boiling water. Cook 10 minutes, remove from water, let soak in cold water to cool, remove and discard shells.
3. In a large sauté pan over a medium flame, melt the butter and lightly brown the onions, mushrooms, parsley and garlic. Add the pieces of turkey liver and sauté until lightly brown being careful not to overcook the liver, which should be pink inside. Season with sea salt and black pepper.
4. Using a rubber spatula, scrape the sautéed liver and vegetables into a large food processor, add the hard-boiled eggs and pulse. Slowly add olive oil, a little at a time. Use the rubber spatula to push any accumulation off the sides of the mixing bowl.
5. Continue pulsing and adding small amounts of olive oil until the pate is creamy. Depending on the size of the turkey liver, you might use more or less of the olive oil. Taste and adjust the seasoning with sea salt and pepper.
6. Use the spatula to transfer the pâté from the food processor to a serving bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate. The pâté can be kept in the refrigerator 1-2 days.
7. Before serving, take the pâté out of the refrigerator, place on the counter out of the sun and allow to come to room temperature. Serve with crackers, toast points, fresh sourdough or French bread.

Variations

• Instead of Italian parsley, use 1 teaspoon finely chopped fresh rosemary leaves.
• For a denser pâté, use 1 hard-boiled egg instead of 2.
• Add ¼ teaspoon cayenne powder to the sauté for heat.
• Add 1 slice bacon, finely chopped to the sauté and brown until crisp.
• Add 1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar to the sauté.
• Sprinkle 2 tablespoons red onion or scallions, finely chopped, over the pâté just before serving.

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Thanksgiving 2020 in the Time of Covid - Making Pickles

My mother loved Thanksgiving.

For her, Thanksgiving brought together friends and family in a celebration of life and food.  I came to share that love as my own family grew. 

The happy ritual for my wife and myself is everyone gathers early at 3PM so we can enjoy the light at the end of the day. Our small house fills with the musical rhythm of the front door opening and familiar voices greeting us as they add their dishes to the feast or flowers to brighten the dining room. 

While my wife keeps the group refreshed with beverages and appetizers, I am focused in the kitchen. Putting dishes in and out of the Wolf stove's large oven. Prepping salads and putting the finishing touches on the desserts. 

The main event is, of course, the turkey. Usually twenty-four pounds so I can send our sons to their homes with several days' worth of left-overs. 

All too often, I would have visitors in our closet-sized kitchen. I appreciated their desire to keep me company, but in such a small space and such a large menu, I'm best left to myself so I can pull baking trays from the hot oven without burning them or myself, sauté string beans with almonds in a giant carbon steel pan and stir the shiitake mushroom/pan drippings gravy. 

We loved how our home was filled with a friendly clamor as people caught up on the latest personal news, laughed and clinked glasses to celebrate what is best about our lives. That was what my mother loved and we did too.

But, as they say, that was then. This is 2020 and Thanksgiving will still be a good time to be thankful for all that we have but it will certainly be different.

We will keep COVID-distant and respect the need to have a smaller group. Instead of twenty we will have five. At the beginning of the meal, we will place a Zoom call and gather with my wife's mother in New Jersey and our sons who are our of town having a holiday together.  We will stay connected, even though we are apart.

With our friends, we will have our meal outside on the patio. I will finally have the kitchen to myself. But I look forward to next year when COVID is behind us and we can gather again as my mother would want, in a house full of family and friends, sharing stories about the year and being thankful for what is best in life.

In the meantime, in this and several posts, I will reprise favorite recipes. 

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving and a safe New Year. 

Homemade Pickles

Pickles are delicious anytime of the year. For Thanksgiving they are especially good. Their crunch and acidity counterbalances the deliciousness of gravy, mashed potatoes and roast turkey. 

For Thanksgiving I always make two kinds of pickles. Kosher dill pickles and Moroccan-style pickled vegetables. Kosher dills should be made a few days before served. Moroccan-style pickled vegetables should be made two weeks ahead. They will keep, sealed in a jar, refrigerated for as long as a year.

No doubt the people who made the first pickles thought they had made a mistake. Somebody accidentally forgot about some raw vegetables in a pot with an acid and salt. Surprise, surprise. A week later, the vegetables weren’t moldy, no bugs had eaten them and, deliciously, they had a nice crunch and tang. Thus was born, the pickle!

In the 1920s, my great-grandfather made pickles on the Lower East Side of Manhattan. Grandmother Caroline used to tell stories about working in their little grocery store as a child. When customers would want pickles, she would hop off the counter and go out front to the pickle barrels and fish out the ones they wanted.

I never knew her parents. I never ate their pickles, but I must have brine in my veins because wherever I travel, I am always on the look out for pickles.

Moroccan pickled veggies

In Morocco at a cooking class in Marrakech at La Maison Arabe, Amaggie Wafa and Ayada Benijei taught us to make Berber bread, couscous with chicken and vegetables, chicken tagine with preserved lemons and clarified butter, tomato marmalade, eggplant-tomato salad and preserved vegetables.

The cooking class lasted four hours. The time it took to show us how to make preserved or pickled vegetables: five minutes.

To Wafa and Benijei, the process was so easy, there were no pickle recipes. A little of this, a little of that, throw the vegetables into a jar, shake it up, put it in a cupboard and in a week, voila, you have pickles.

Pickle recipes tip from Grandma

From my grandmother I learned that making kosher dill pickles was a little more complicated. In retrospect, I think that’s because pickling cukes are more prone to decay than are the carrots, parsnip, fennel and green beans used in Morocco.

Every Thanksgiving I make both.

Pickles are very personal. What one person loves might be too salty or vinegary to another. It may take you several tries before you settle on the mix of salt, vinegar and spices that suits your palate.

Garlic is usually added to brine. My grandmother didn't put garlic in hers and I don't put any in mine so I indicated garlic as optional.

Lower East Side Kosher Dill Pickles

When making kosher dill pickles keep in mind four very important steps:

1. Select pickling cukes, not salad cucumbers, and pick ones without blemishes or soft spots.

2. Taste the brine to confirm you like the balance of salt-to-vinegar. The flavor of the brine will approximate the flavor of the pickles.

3. Once the cukes are in the brine, they must be kept submerged in an open container.

4. When the pickles have achieved the degree of pickling you like, which could take three days to a week, store the pickles in the brine, seal and keep in a refrigerator where they will last for several weeks.

Ingredients

8 cups water

¼ cup kosher salt

1 cup white wine vinegar or yellow Iranian vinegar (my preference)

4 garlic cloves, skin removed, root end trimmed off, cut into thin strips (optional)

5 dried bay leaves

10 whole black peppercorns

10 whole mustard seeds

¼ teaspoon pepper flakes or 1 dried Sichuan pepper, split open

5 sprigs of fresh dill

5 pounds small pickling cucumbers, washed, stems removed, dried

Directions

1. In a non-reactive pot, heat the water and vinegar on a medium flame. When the water gently simmers, add the salt and stir to dissolve. Do not allow the water to boil.

2. Dip your finger in the brine, taste and adjust the flavor with a bit more salt, water or vinegar.

3. Place the garlic and spices in the bottom of a gallon glass or plastic container. Arrange the cucumbers inside.

4. Pour in the hot brine being careful to cover the cucumbers. Reserve 1 cup of brine.

5. To keep the cucumbers submerged in the brine, find a plastic cup that is not as wide as the mouth of the container. Place the reserved cup of brine into the plastic cup and put into the container to press down on the cucumbers.

6. Place the container in a dark, cool corner of the kitchen. Check daily to make sure the cucumbers are submerged. If the brine evaporates, use the reserved brine in the plastic cup, replenishing the liquid in the cup with water to weigh down the cukes.

7. After three days, remove one cucumber and sample. If you like your pickles crisp, that may be enough time. If they aren’t pickled enough for you, let them stay on the counter another few days.

8. When you like how they taste, remove the cup and seal the top. Refrigerate the container.

Moroccan Style Preserved Vegetables

In Morocco, virtually any vegetable can be preserved. In the class, we were shown green beans, fennel, parsnips and carrots. Experiment and see what you like, including asparagus, zucchini, beets, daikon, eggplant, daikon and broccoli.

For myself, over the years I have settled on onions, carrots, cauliflower florets and green cabbage. Recently I have been making celery hearts because every morning my wife juices a celery stalk to begin her day with a glass of healthy celery juice. That  makes me the beneficiary of a great many celery hearts, which I am making into delicious pickles. 

Whatever you try, prepare the vegetable by washing, peeling and cutting them into pieces similar in size, about a 1/4" except with the celery hearts. I leave the bottom of the hearts so they pickle as a stalk.

The fun thing about pickling is you can personalize your pickles, making them any way you like.

Save the pickling brine. It is delicious poured over warm Japanese rice or mixed with olive oil to make a salad dressing.

Ingredients

2 whole carrots, ends trimmed, washed, peeled, cut into rounds, ¼-inch thick

2 celery hearts, root end trimmed

1 medium yellow onion, washed, root and stem ends removed, peeled, sliced lengthwise (root to stem) 1/4" slices

1 small whole green cabbage, washed, any brown outer leaves removed and discarded, cut in half, cut out core and reserve for soup, cut into 1/4" squares

1 small white cauliflower, washed, leaves removed (instructions below)

4 bay leaves

½ teaspoon black peppercorns

¼ teaspoon pepper flakes or 1 dried Sichuan pepper, split open, roughly chopped

1 teaspoon dried oregano

1 garlic clove, skin removed, root end trimmed off, cut into thin strips (optional)

3 tablespoons kosher salt

1½ cups white wine or yellow Iranian vinegar

2 cups water

1 tablespoon olive oil

Directions

1. Sterilize two quart-sized glass or plastic containers.

2. Finalize the prep on the cauliflower by using a sharp pairing knife to create 1" long florets about 1/4" thick. Use the remaining stems for a stir fry or soup.

3. Toss the vegetables together to mix well in a large bowl.

4. Place the mixed vegetables into the two jars.

5. Add equal amounts of the aromatics to each jar.

6. Combine the kosher salt, water and vinegar. Mix well. Taste. If you find the mixture too acidic, slowly add water until you like the flavor. If not salty enough, add a small amount of kosher salt

7. Pour the water-vinegar mixture into the jars, making sure the liquid covers the vegetables. If more liquid is needed, make more brine and reserve any left over.

8. Top off each jar with equal amounts of olive oil.

9. Seal the jars and shake well to dissolve the salt and mix the aromatics.

10. Refrigerate. Wait one week and taste. Wait longer if they aren’t pickled enough. They will keep in the refrigerator for months.

     

To Make a Sweeter Balsamic Vinegar, Heat and Reduce

Transform ordinary balsamic vinegar into thicker, slightly sweet reduced balsamic to make a best-ever salad dressing. 

Reduction is a simple and effective way to increase flavor by reducing the water content of a liquid using heat or evaporation.

Reduction transforms inexpensive balsamic vinegar into an extraordinary sauce. At a restaurant supply store like Smart and Final, 5 liters of Italian balsamic vinegar sells for under $20.00. 5 liters will make 40 ounces of reduced balsamic, enough for a hundred servings.

Reduced Balsamic Vinegar

Like vinegar in general, reduced balsamic does not need refrigeration and will last indefinitely.

To make an oil and vinegar salad dressing, combine 1 teaspoon of reduced balsamic with 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil. Mix well and drizzle over tossed lettuce, tomatoes and burrata or chopped Italian parsley and feta.

Time to prepare: 10-15 minutes or 10-15 hours depending on the amount of vinegar being reduced

Ingredients:

1/4 cup Italian balsamic vinegar to make a single serving or 1 large 5 liter bottle to make 40 ounces

Directions:

For an individual serving, pour 1/4 cup of vinegar into a small saucepan and heat over a slow flame. That will take 10-15 minutes and make about a tablespoon. Let cool and mix with olive oil to use as a salad dressing to serve 4. 

To make a larger quantity, pour the 5 liters of balsamic vinegar into a large pot. Open the kitchen windows and heat the vinegar. Be careful to keep the flame on low.  A gentle simmer is good.

As the volume of vinegar reduces, adjust the flame to avoid boiling, which creates an unpleasant flavor.

5 liters of vinegar will take 8-10 hours to reduce to 20% of the original volume.  Use a small spoon to taste the vinegar. When thickened, the balsamic has a slightly sweet flavor. Roughly speaking, 5 liters will make 40 ounces of reduced balsamic.

If the balsamic reduces too much and is too syrupy, add a cup of water, stir well and heat. Add more water until you have the consistency you enjoy.

Use a funnel to fill plastic squeeze bottles. I prefer a 4 ounce bottle for easy handling. 5 liters of balsamic vinegar will make nine to ten 4 ounce bottles.

As the balsamic reduces, sometimes, a film or solids might develop. If so, wet a piece of cheese cloth and put it inside a funnel placed into a squeeze bottle. Pour the reduced balsamic through the cheese cloth and fill the squeeze bottles. When all the bottles are filled, squeeze the cheese cloth so you capture all of the balsamic. Rinse clean and dry the cheese cloth.

Shrimp 101: Easy to Prepare and Delicious

Shrimp are easy to prepare, nutritious and low in fat. Adaptable with many sauces and preparations, their versatility makes them an ideal ingredient in appetizers, soups and main courses. 

To document a meal I made for dinner, I posted a video of shrimps charring on a stove top grill. A friend followed my visual directions but was disappointed with the result. The shrimp were not tasty in the way she expected.

She asked for suggestions. I had a few.

Where to buy shrimp and which shrimp to buy

First off, finding good shrimp isn’t easy. After years of hit or miss sources (sometimes even the most expensive fish market/upscale grocery store would have shrimp that were fresh and sometimes not so fresh), I found a good shrimp in Los Angeles at Ralph’s Market/owned by Krogers.

You probably already know this but always buy shrimp in the shell. If you can find “Ez-Peel” shrimp, that’s good because the back of the shrimp’s shell has already been cut and the back vein already (mostly) removed.

As to size, I prefer medium (31/35 per lb.) sized shrimp. The shrimp at Ralph's are farm raised. Their texture and flavor are very good. Wild shrimp will cost more. When buying from a new-to-you vendor, try different sizes, farmed and fresh shrimp to find what you like. 

When you get the shrimp home, you can peel them or not but rinse them in clean water and refrigerate in an air-tight container.  Use them within 1-2 days. 

When you’re ready to cook them, rinse again. if the shrimp are Ez-Peel, remove the shells with your fingers. If not, run a sharp pairing knife down the back of each shrimp to remove the shells. 

My mother, who lived in Costa Rica and ate a lot of rice there, taught me to put the shells into a small saucepan, cover with water, simmer and strain and save the broth to use in soups and sauces. Very tasty.

Wash the peeled shrimp and remove the black vein that runs along the back.

Rinse again. Now they are ready to cook. Cooking shrimp is very easy. The trick is they cook very quickly.

Salt boiling shrimp

If you want shrimp for a shrimp cocktail or in a salad, heat water in a small saucepan. Use enough water to cover by 1” the amount of shrimp. 

Boil the water. Add a pinch of kosher salt (only kosher salt made by Diamond Crystal because they don’t use additives) or sea salt. 

Add the shrimp. They will cook quickly. Within 20-30 SECONDS. 

Drain and cool by putting ice cubes with the shrimp. Drain. Serve cold or at room temperature or refrigerate in an airtight container.

Grilling or sautéing shrimp

Toss the peeled and deveined shrimp in a bowl with olive oil, sea salt and freshly ground black pepper. 

Using a grill or sautéed pan (cast iron or carbon steel is preferred), place the shrimp individually onto the hot surface. Using tongs, turn them within 5-10 seconds. Cook briefly on each side and remove. 

The grill I use is a stove-top grill that does a great job with easy clean up. And, it is very inexpensive. Here’s a link to the grill on Amazon. 

Grilled shrimp can be served with a chopped vegetable salad (as in the video) or as an appetizer with a cocktail or remoulade sauce.

Shrimp with sauce

Shrimp can be served with any number of cold or heated sauces. My favorite cocktail sauce is a classic. Catsup, lemon juice, capers, grated horseradish and Worcester sauce on the side and Saltine crackers. 

When adding shrimp to curry or a Mexican garlic sauce, add the shrimp just before serving remembering to cook them for only a minute or two to keep them juicy.

Preparing for Cold Weather with a Gathering of Summer Tomatoes

Time to post my suggestions about taking advantage of summer's bounty. 

Difficult to believe, summer is winding down. Even as the heat of the sun makes us wonder if summer will ever end, as the saying goes, "Winter is coming."

Walking through the farmers markets, I see a great abundance of tomatoes. With that abundance comes lower prices. Find a farmer who has too much of a good thing and the price comes down even more.

"Reduced to sell." "Soft ready to eat." Those are the tomatoes I look for. I'll buy them by the bagful. Five or ten pounds at a time. My plan is to prepare for a time when fresh tomatoes are a thing of the past.

I am anticipating a time when storm clouds are outside and I'm staring into the refrigerator looking for inspiration. I yearn for the produce of summer: leafy greens, corn and full-bodied tomatoes. But there is a way to enjoy the sweet-acidic deliciousness of tomatoes even in the darkest days of winter. Just look in your freezer.

With abundant tomatoes in the farmers markets, buy ripe tomatoes, roast and freeze them to be used in braises, soups and sauces in the fall and winter. Once blasted with heat in the oven, the tomatoes happily take to the freezer if they are covered in liquid.

Enjoy frozen roasted tomatoes whole or puree into sauce, and as rain beats against your windows and snow accumulates on your lawn, you will remember those heady summer flavors.

Oven-roasted tomatoes to use as a side dish or in sauces

Use ripe and over-ripe tomatoes. If you can find only unripe, hard tomatoes, leave them in a sunny spot on the kitchen counter until they ripen. Bruised tomatoes are OK as long as you use a sharp paring knife to remove the damaged parts. Avoid tomatoes with broken skin because of the risk of mold.

Any kind of tomato can be used: heirloom, Roma, cherry, large or small salad tomatoes.

A food mill is helpful when making the sauce. If one is not available, a fine meshed wire strainer will do almost as well.

When roasting the tomatoes, it is important to use parchment paper or a nonstick Silpat mat to prevent the tomatoes from sticking to the baking sheet. With a Silpat mat, none of the good bits and sweetly-delicious liquids that caramelize on the bottom are wasted.

Roasted Tomatoes

Tomatoes love the sun’s heat when they’re growing. And they love the oven’s heat that coaxes a rich umami sweetness out of their naturally acidic souls.

That sweetness is at the heart of the roasted tomatoes that will be in your freezer.

Prep time: 5 minutes

Roasting time: 60 minutes

Yield: 1 to 2 quarts

Ingredients

5 pounds tomatoes, washed, patted dry

1 tablespoon olive oil

¼ teaspoon sea salt

¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Directions 

1. Preheat oven to 350 F.

2. Line a large baking sheet with a Silpat mat or parchment paper cut to size. Use a baking sheet with a 1-inch lip to capture any liquids created during roasting.

3. Use a sharp paring knife to cut a “V” shape around the stem, remove and discard. With cherry tomatoes, any stems can be brushed off the surface without making a cut.

4. Place the de-stemmed tomatoes on the lined baking sheet, stem side up.

5. Drizzle with olive oil and season with sea salt and pepper.

6. Place in oven and roast 60 minutes.

7. Remove and let cool.

Freezing Whole Roasted Tomatoes

When you remove the baking sheet from the oven, you’ll notice a clear liquid has accumulated on the bottom. Some of that is olive oil. But most of the liquid is a clear tomato essence prized by chefs for its clean flavor.

If you are freezing some of the roasted tomatoes whole, use the clear liquid to cover the tomatoes in the deli containers.

Use airtight containers that are about the same width as the tomatoes so you will need a small amount of liquid to cover them.

Defrosting Whole Roasted Tomatoes

When you want to use the tomatoes, take them out of the freezer in the evening and let them defrost overnight. If any ice crystals have accumulated on top of the tomatoes, rinse off the ice before defrosting.

If you want to serve them whole, the tomatoes can be warmed in the oven or microwave. They are delicate, so handle them carefully.

Whole Roasted Tomato, Easy-to-Make Pasta Sauce

A deliciously simple pasta sauce to make any time of the year, not just in winter. Serve the pasta with steamed vegetables, a charred steak or a grilled chicken breast and you will have a perfect cold weather meal that warms body and soul.

The flavorful tomato sauce can become a vegan dish by simply omitting the butter and cheese.

Prep time: 5 minutes

Sauté time: 5 minutes

Pasta cooking time: 10 minutes

Total time: 10 minutes

Serves 4

Ingredients

1 tablespoon sea salt

1 pound fresh or packaged pasta

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 cup Italian parsley leaves, washed, roughly chopped (optional)

1 garlic clove, peeled, finely chopped

2 to 3 whole, large roasted tomatoes, skins removed

1 teaspoon sweet butter (optional)

Freshly ground black pepper to taste

1 cup freshly grated Parmesan or Romano cheese

Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Directions

1. Place a large pot of water on high heat. Add 1 tablespoon sea salt to the water. Bring to a boil. Add the pasta. Stir well every 2 to 3 minutes.

2. Place a heat-proof cup in the sink next to a large strainer. When the pasta is al dente to your taste, about 10 minutes, pour the pasta into the strainer, capturing one cup of the salted pasta water. Reserve.

3. Toss the cooked pasta to prevent clumping.

4. At the same time the pasta is cooking, place a large sauté pan on a medium-high flame. Heat the olive oil.

5. Add the parsley and garlic. Lightly brown.

6. Holding the roasted tomatoes over the sauté pan, use your hands to tear them apart so you capture all the liquid. Add any liquid from the deli container.

7. Stir well and cook until the liquid is reduced by half.

8. Taste and salt, if needed; add a tablespoon or more of the pasta water.

9. Stir well and add butter. Taste and adjust seasoning by adding sea salt and black pepper.

10. When ready to serve, add the cooked pasta to the sauté pan. Over a medium flame, toss the pasta in the sauce to coat.

11. Serve hot with a bowl of Romano or Parmesan cheese.

Roasted Tomato Sauce

The tomatoes used to make the sauce are prepared and roasted in the same manner as those used to create whole roasted tomatoes.

Directions

1. Working with small batches, remove the roasted tomatoes from the baking sheet and put some of the roasted tomatoes into a food mill or fine mesh, wire strainer placed over a nonreactive bowl. Press the tomatoes through, collecting all the juice in the bowl.

2. Use a spatula to scrape off the pulp that will accumulate on the bottom of the food mill or the strainer. Add the pulp to the juice.

3. Discard the tomato skins. Or add to your compost. Or, even better, reserve in the freezer to use with other vegetable scraps to make vegetable stock.

Freezing Roasted Tomato Sauce

Put the open deli containers on a counter. Stir the tomato juice to mix with the pulp.

Fill each deli container to a half-inch below the top so that when the sauce freezes, the liquid will have room to expand and will not force open the lid.

When cooled, the filled containers can be placed in the freezer.

Defrosting Roasted Tomato Sauce

Even without defrosting, the frozen sauce can be used at the last minute, when you want to thicken a soup, add a layer of flavor to a braise or make a simple pasta sauce.

There are infinite ways to use this versatile sauce. One of my favorites is an easy-to-make pasta with sautéed vegetables.

If any ice crystals accumulate on the top of the sauce, rinse off the ice before defrosting.

Penne Pasta With Roasted Tomato Sauce and Sautéed Vegetables

Prep time: 10 minutes

Sauté time: 10 minutes

Pasta cooking time: 10 minutes

Total cooking time: 20 minutes

Yield: 4 servings

Ingredients

1 tablespoon sea salt

1 pound fresh or packaged pasta

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 carrots, washed, stems removed, peeled, cut into rounds

1 medium yellow onion, washed, stems removed, peeled, roughly chopped

8 large shiitake mushrooms, ends of the stems removed, washed, patted dry, roughly chopped

2 cups broccolini or broccoli, washed, cut into florets, the stems cut into slabs

2 garlic cloves, peeled, smashed, finely chopped

12 ounces frozen tomato sauce, defrosted on the counter overnight

1 tablespoon sweet butter (optional)

¼ teaspoon pepper flakes or pinch of cayenne (optional)

Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

1 cup freshly grated Parmesan or Romano cheese

Directions

1. Place a large pot of water on high heat. Add 1 tablespoon sea salt to the water. Bring to a boil. Add the pasta. Stir well every 2 to 3 minutes.

2. Place a heat-proof cup in the sink next to a large strainer. When the pasta is al dente to your taste, pour the pasta into the strainer, capturing one cup of the salted pasta water. Reserve.

3. Toss the cooked pasta to prevent clumping.

4. At the same time the pasta is cooking, place a large sauté pan on a medium flame.

5. Heat the olive oil.

6. Add carrots, onion, shiitake mushrooms, broccolini and garlic. Sauté until lightly browned.

7. Add roasted tomato sauce, butter and pepper flakes. Stir well. Taste. If salt is needed, add a tablespoon or more of the pasta water.

8. Simmer on a medium flame and reduce.

9. Taste, adjust seasoning and continue simmering if you want the sauce to be thicker.

10. When the sauce is the consistency you like, add the cooked pasta, coat well.

11. Taste and adjust the seasoning with more sea salt or black pepper.

12. Serve hot with a bowl of grated Parmesan or Romano cheese.