My favorite time of year is when we can start picking our veggies from the garden! There's just something special about knowing you grew the food on your plate yourself. I'm super excited this year because Jordan expanded the garden so that we'll be getting even more goodies! We always plant our favorite herbs, tomatoes, cucumbers, squash/zucchini, eggplant, strawberries, bell peppers, and hot peppers. We also have been growing horseradish for a few years. This year, in our expansion, we added spinach, kale, and pickling cucumbers! My parents also have a garden so we're lucky to always get produce from them too!
We always get SO many tomatoes! We love sharing with our friends but I also try to come up with as many ways to use them as possible! We make a lot of garden salsa throughout the summer and it's always our go-to appetizer to bring to gatherings. I also like to make fresh sauce with the tomatoes. I also make homemade sauce using canned tomatoes, but in the summer I like to use fresh for a lighter feel. I'm sharing my fresh tomato Sauce with you here so that you have another use for your summer tomatoes! Local friends, let me know if you want some tomatoes when they start coming!
Fresh Tomato Sauce over Spinach & Pasta
Ingredients:
1 tbs olive oil
1 small yellow onion, diced
4 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
1 tsp oregano
1 tsp basil
2 bay leaves
ground black pepper and pink Himalayan salt to taste
1/4 cup red wine
2 lbs tomatoes (about 5 tomatoes), chopped
1 lb penne
2-4 cups spinach (I tend to use a lot of spinach because it wilts down to so little)
Instructions:
1. Heat oil in skillet over medium heat. Fill large pot with water and bring to boil.
2. Add onion, garlic, oregano, basil, bay leaves, and salt & pepper to skillet and cook a few minutes until soft. 3. Add red wine and stir until most of the liquid is absorbed.
4. Add tomatoes, stir, and let simmer 20-25 minutes (stirring occasionally).
5. Meanwhile, add pasta to boiling water. Cook according to package instructions.
6. Add spinach during the last minute of cooking.
7. Drain pasta & spinach. Scoop onto plate and top with sauce!