September 7th: oven-roasted tomatoes, rigatoni with pork ragù

Our vegetable garden is exploding with tomatoes, and I've spent three days trying to perfect an oven-roasted tomato recipe. This is a recipe that easily uses up 3-5 tomatoes, depending on their size, and when you do get it right, it's fabulous. My first batch, I completely forgot about in the oven and I was attempting to have a nap and couldn't figure out what the annoying beeping from the kitchen was: my oven timer telling me to get the tomatoes out. They were black, burnt and crispy. I ate half them anyway. My second batch I cooked at a lower temperature and had to take out before they were done because I had to leave the house. They were red, squishy and not quite done. I ate the whole pan in one sitting. My third batch was pretty close to perfection: cooked, crispy, deeelicious. I ate most of them, shared a few with my family, and packed two in a container for a snack at work.

From Farm-Fresh Recipes from the Missing Goat Farm:

Oven-Roasted Tomatoes

3-5 ripe tomatoes, any size, thinly sliced
salt
freshly ground black pepper
olive oil

Preheat the oven to 225F.*

Line a baking tray with parchment paper and lay as many tomato slices as you can fit on top. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and drizzle with olive oil.

Bake in preheated oven for about 2 hours and 20 minutes. They should look dry and should be crispy when you pick them up. You can store these in the fridge to use over a week or so.

*Part of what took me so long to get this recipe right was figuring out the right temperature for my oven, which runs cold. I found 275F to be a good one for me.

I spent a good part of Labour Day labouring (I crack myself up) over a pork ragu sauce. It was worth the labour.

From Epicurious:

Rigatoni with Pork Ragù

1 medium onion, quartered
1 carrot, peeled, cut into 1" pieces
1 celery stalk, cut into 1" pieces
4 garlic cloves
2 teaspoons fresh oregano leaves (I used 1 tsp dried)
1/4 teaspoons crushed red pepper flakes
1/2 cup coarsely chopped flat-leaf parsley, divided
1 28-ounce can whole peeled tomatoes
1/4 cup olive oil
1 pound hot or sweet Italian sausage, casings removed
1 pound ground pork
Kosher salt, freshly ground pepper
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1 pound mezzi rigatoni or penne rigate
3/4 cup finely grated Parmesan or Grana Padano plus more

Pulse onion, carrot, celery, garlic, oregano, red pepper flakes, and 1/4 cup parsley in a food processor until finely chopped; transfer to a small bowl and set aside. Purée tomatoes with juices in processor; set aside.


Heat oil in a large heavy pot over medium heat; add sausage and cook, breaking up with a spoon, until browned, about 4 minutes. Add ground pork, season with salt and pepper, and cook, breaking up with a spoon, until no longer pink. Using a slotted spoon, transfer to a plate.


Increase heat to medium-high. Add reserved vegetable mixture to drippings in pot, season with salt, and cook, stirring often, until golden, 8-10 minutes.


Stir tomato paste and 1 cup water in a small bowl; add to pot. Cook, scraping up any browned bits from bottom of pot. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer until liquid has almost evaporated, 6-8 minutes.


Add reserved meat and tomato purée and 1 cup water.* Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer, adding more water as needed to keep meat nearly submerged,** until meat is tender, about 4 hours. Season with salt.

DO AHEAD: Ragù can be made 3 days ahead. Let cool. Cover and chill, or freeze for up to 2 months. Reheat before continuing.


Cook pasta in a large pot of boiling salted water, stirring occasionally, until al dente. Drain, reserving 2 cups pasta cooking liquid.


Add pasta and 1/2 cup pasta cooking liquid to sauce; stir to coat. Stir in 3/4 cup Parmesan and remaining 1/4 cup parsley. Increase heat to medium and continue stirring, adding more pasta cooking liquid as needed, until sauce coats pasta. Divide among bowls; top with more Parmesan.

*I used up some leftover white wine in place of the water.
**I had to add quite a bit of water, probably two cups.

Supper, with Greek salad.