Friday, September 11, 2015

Procrastination Recipe: Roasted Tomato Sauce and Spaghetti Squash

You may be wondering how the wheat/gluten-free adventure is going. After two weeks of changing my diet and not having what I thought for so many years were IBS symptoms, I feel great. However, I have a weakness for certain foods. So I have decided that in my everyday life I am going to try my darnedest to remain free of what effects me. However, when I go out to restaurants with friends I may occasionally partake in pizza or pasta or cake. I will just know what to expect afterwards and be fine with that.

On Saturday I made gluten-free apple cider donuts. They tasted great right out of the oven, dipped in melted butter and some cinnamon-sugar, but the next morning it was like biting into chalk. They crumbled at the touch and tasted... off. I can't figure out what went wrong overnight. I thought about posting the recipe and then thought better of it. I'm sure there are plenty more gluten-free recipes across the interwebs that taste decent the following day and there's no need to subject people to using my recipe and having to scarf two dozen donuts in one sitting or else toss everything out twenty-four hours later. Back to the drawing board with that one.

Tuesday morning I woke up to an email from a friend who was away with her family and therefore could not pick up her farmshare. Did I want it, she asked. Do bears shi... yes. Yes, I did want the free, organic veg. So after work I scooted over to Cambridge to pick it up. This mega box contained the following (I may be forgetting something because there was so much)...

A cantaloupe (which I ate in one sitting on Wednesday and then felt slightly sick), a spaghetti squash, a head of lettuce, thyme, kale, carrots, potatoes, cherry tomatoes, beefsteak tomatoes, scallions, peppers... oh and a half-dozen eggs. I felt like I'd won some sort of crunchy-granola lottery. I gave the lettuce and cherry tomatoes away and have been eating kale and eggs for breakfast all week. Then last night I decided to make tomato sauce before any of the tomatoes started to go bad. It was so good, guys. I had to high five myself and then turn to one of my cats and ask, But seriously, why am I still single when I cook meals like this? All I got was a headbutt in response so the question goes unanswered.

Yellow/white onion (from my mother's garden and it was small so feel free to use a much bigger one or two small ones)
5 Banana peppers (from my mother's garden, optional)
2 red peppers
6 large tomatoes
4 scallions
olive oil
salt & pepper
1 teaspoon sugar
dried oregano

Me: So are those banana peppers? I'm wondering how hot they are.
Mom: They are banana peppers. They aren't hot.

Lies. Regardless of how the peppers interacted with two spots on my skin (honestly, it was nothing compared to the hot pepper jelly fiasco) they added a little kick to this sauce and it was delicious. If you are averse to spice then do not add them.

On a baking tray I put the onion and peppers, after tossing them with a little olive oil. I baked them at 350 degrees for about 20-25 minutes. Make sure you remove the seeds and veins of the peppers, which is where most of the heat resides.

These tomatoes were gygundomundo. Look at that thing!

I cut them into quarters (the bigger ones into eighths), tossed them with olive oil, salt and pepper and laid them on another cookie sheet.

I baked these at the same time as the peppers but for longer - about 35-40 minutes. Make sure you do not spill the juice!

In a blender I poured the onion, peppers, half of the tomatoes and juice, 4 diced scallions and blended. I poured that into a pan heating on the stove and then blended the remaining tomatoes and juice. I heated it on low, drizzled in a little more olive oil as well as salt, pepper, oregano (just a couple sprinkles) and the sugar. It was all to taste so adjust yours according to your own taste preferences.

Meanwhile, I cut the spaghetti squash in half, scooped out the seeds and stringy goobers, placed them in a deep dish with about a third cup of water (to keep the skin from burning), drizzled a little olive oil and sprinkled salt and pepper. I baked this at 375 for about 40 minutes. My oven is wonky so it might take you more or less time. But basically, you know it's done when you can lightly scrape a fork along the squash and it comes away in strands that look like spaghetti.

I scraped half of the squash into a bowl, poured about 3/4 of a cup of the sauce over it and then added some bleu cheese because when is bleu cheese not a good addition? Honestly, it was better than eating sauce over pasta. Because the squash has flavor! It was a delicious meal, gluten-free and healthy! 

Happy Eating!


1 comment

  1. This looks amazing! Way too many steps for a novice like me, but thankfully I have Chef Steph on speed dial!


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