Refrigerator Cleaning Tomato Sauce

We've been knee deep in leftovers and comfort foods (matzo brei, corned beef hash, pasta with meat sauce, etc) recently, so I haven't been doing much cooking outside the norm. Okay, in fairness, I did make some granola bars, and I also made some marshmallows, both with small modifications. But nothing really original to write home about. I looked in the fridge today and realised I had a pile of vegetables that truly were ready to be used up, as well as some beef broth remaining from the beef barley soup (which I will be putting into my regular comfort food rotation). P has been expressing more interest in meatless sauces recently (even going so far as to make a delicious, spicy marinara of his own while I was at work!), so I thought this would be a good way for me to use up the produce. It's easily modified to fit whatever produce you're looking to use up, so please have fun with it! Additionally, I wanted to make a lot of it so I could can some for lazy days. Here it is. I hope you enjoy!

1 cup celery (with leaves), cut into chunks
1 1/2 cup zucchini, cut into chunks
2 cups peeled eggplant, cut into chunks
1 cup carrots, cut into chunks
1 1/2 cup red bell pepper, cut into chunks
2 cups anise, cut into chunks
2 1/2 cups red onion, cut into chunks
1/2 cup pitted kalamata olives, rinsed to remove some of the salt
2 tablespoons minced garlic
1 3/4 cup beef broth (use veggie broth to make this vegan)
1/4 cup lemon juice
1 14-ounce can each: diced tomatoes, stewed tomatoes
salt and pepper to taste
1 tablespoon each: dried oregano, basil, thyme, rosemary
1 bay leaf
3/4 cup red wine (I used a cab)
1/2 - 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes (optional)
1/4 - 1/3 cup olive oil

Preheat oven to 400F. After cutting up all the veggies, combine all ingredients in a 13x9" pan (I know, it's a lot to fit in one pan) and braise for about 2 hours, or until all the veggies are soft. Stir periodically while it braises. Remove bay leaf and puree. Adjust seasonings (this is where I add in the red pepper flakes) and simmer for 30 minutes, adding water if needed.

Comments

  1. Mary Bergfeld1:40 PM

    I love that you use the oven for braising all your vegetables. That's a great idea.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Allie5:32 PM

    Mary,

    Thanks. It's so much simpler. Just pop it in the oven and walk away. If you remember, you can return every now and again to stir, but I think it wouldn't matter if you didn't.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Chile6:55 PM

    Sounds like my kind of cooking! Now all you need is a solar oven to braise those veggies... ;-)

    ReplyDelete
  4. Allie2:55 PM

    Chile,

    With the heat we've had here, they'd probably cook in a solar oven at half the time they did in my oven!

    ReplyDelete
  5. The Bradshaw House10:57 PM

    The granola's and the marshmallows were amazing! This week Walgreens ad has a sell on ramen noodles in a 6 pack for 99cents!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Allie5:29 PM

    Jen,

    I'm glad you enjoyed the granola and marshmallows! Yay ramen!

    ReplyDelete

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