24 lbs of Early Girl Tomatoes

I have a confession to make: I've been on a bit of a tomato bender.

I just can't help it. They are just so irresistible. I've been popping cherry tomatoes like pills, sneaking slices and dices of heirlooms into every meal, and lusting after Early Girls.

I recently came across this Mario Batali clip, and learned that there is a word for my ailment. The Italians call it Scorpacciata.

It means, essentially, a feeding frenzy…specifically, on something that is in season. In Batali's words, it's when something comes into season, and you "go at it with a vengeance." You have it in every way that you can, you commit to it, you gorge on it, eating as much of it as possible, because in the real world, that one shining item is only available, in its prime deliciousness, for a small window of time.

Ah, see? The Italians have been doing it for so long, they have a whole word for it. That makes me feel better.

To help feed my feeding frenzy, I turned once again this year, to the Ladybug Truck, Mariquita Farm's bulk buying club. I showed up early at the drop-off point (a.k.a. Piccino), and indulged in a lovely brunch al fresco to take the edge off.

Brunch at Piccino Cafe

Roasted Fruit Bruschetta (chewy, crispy slices of house-made bread, slathered with honey butter and topped with roasted strawberries and pluots, basil, and a drizzle of crème fraiche) and Salsiccia Pizza (house-made sausage, red onions, mozzarella, topped with two perfectly soft-baked eggs) got me feeling pretty good.

The Ladybug Truck

And then my supplier came. Score. I procured my 24 pounds of Early Girl gold and got my canning underway. There is nothing in the world like pulling out a jar of canned fresh tomatoes in the dead of winter, and getting a little jolt of summer again.

Peeled tomatoes

I couldn't wait to taste my loot and made a batch of sauce right away for that night's dinner. A simple and utterly satisfying meal of angel hair pasta and Early Girl Tomato Sauce. This sauce is made with four ingredients: peeled Early Girls, a clove of garlic, a spoonful of sugar, and a splash of balsamic vinegar. Cross my heart, that's all you need. And here's a secret: add a little cream at the end and you've got Tomato Soup!

You may recall another recipe for Tomato (Butter) Sauce I shared not long ago...well, I'm not saying that one tomato sauce is better than the other. I love them both the same, in different ways. Like jeans. There are skinny jeans, and there are comfy jeans. There are work jeans, and there are going-out jeans. I could carry this comparison on for a while, but I think you get the idea.

What I'm saying is…sometimes you need a little butter comfort in your life. And sometimes you need pure, fresh, healthy, goodness.

So, what are you waiting for? Farsi una scorpacciata! Quick, before it's too late!

Spaghetti with Early Girl Tomato Sauce

Early Girl Tomato Sauce
As Bay Area gourmands like to say, it's all about the ingredients. These dry-farmed Early Girl tomatoes are so intense and sweet, they make for an incredibly simple, utterly delicious tomato sauce. I've also been known to add a splash of cream at the end and turn this into Tomato Soup!

Makes: Enough to coat ½ pound spaghetti

Ingredients:
About 1 quart container of peeled Early Girl tomatoes *
1 clove garlic, minced
1 tablespoon sugar
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar

Preparation:
1. Heat up a tablespoon of olive oil in a saucepan and add the minced garlic. Sautee to soften the garlic, making sure not to brown/burn.
2. Puree the tomatoes in a blender or food processor
3. Add the tomatoes, sugar, and balsamic vinegar to the saucepan. Let simmer until sauce thickens.

* If you are working with fresh tomatoes, remove the skins by dropping the tomatoes in boiling water for 1 minute. Remove and run under cold water. You should then be able to easily peel the tomatoes.

Spaghetti and Meatballs

Spaghetti and Meatballs. Doesn't that sound good? Simple. Classic. Comforting. Makes me want to curl up on the couch with a big steaming bowl, a bottle of wine and some old movies. It's the little things in life.

The inspiration for this comfort meal came from this recipe a friend sent me from Smitten Kitchen: Tomato Sauce with Butter and Onion (from Marcela Hazan's Essentials of Italian Cooking)

Tomatoes, butter, and onion

She positively raved about how good this tomato sauce is. And stupid easy. Literally, just three ingredients: canned tomatoes, onion, and butter. You don't even need to chop the onion. Simply peel it and cut it in half. In it goes with the tomatoes and the secret ingredient to all things delicious (butter), and let it simmer. The result is really something phenomenal.

Tomato Sauce with Butter and Onion

I tweaked the recipe slightly by adding a spoonful of sugar (I always add a little sugar to my tomato sauce, it helps balance out the acidity). I also added an extra can of whole peeled tomatoes. The original recipe didn't make enough sauce to satisfy my saucy craving, and was a little too rich with the tomato:butter ratio.

A note on the canned tomatoes. If you can find San Marzano tomatoes, they are the best quality, but you do pay a lot more for them. I went budget on this and went for three 14.5 ounce cans of grocery store brand whole peeled tomatoes. The sauce turned out delicious. With that much butter how could it not be delicious?

The butter is the secret weapon here. It adds such a luxurious, full flavor to the sauce, and brings out the best in the tomato and onion.

Makings of some mean meatballs

With a solid sauce done, easy peasy, I turned my attention to meatballs.

I adapted a straightforward, traditional recipe from an episode of Bobby Flay's Throwdown. "Grandma Maronis Meatballs 100 Year Old Recipe" consisted of the classic mix of ground chuck, bread crumbs, eggs, milk, cheese, onion, garlic, and herbs.

Three key changes I made:
1) Caramelize the onions before adding them to the mix. I do this when I make hamburgers too. By developing the sugars in the onion, you end up with a much greater depth of flavor.
2) Brown the meatballs in a pan before sticking them in the oven. Browned meat = More flavor. Plus, you get that nice crispy sear on the outside.
3) Add a few spoonfuls of Concord grape jelly.

Secret Ingredient: Concord Grape Jelly

That's right, the secret to awesome meatballs is Grape Jelly. Shhhh, don't tell anyone.

I picked up this family secret from Dom, a friend from school who studied abroad with me in Bologna. His grandma swears by this. Grazie mille, Nonna Musacchio, you are brilliant. You would never guess that grape jelly is in the recipe, but it adds a little sweet sumpthin' sumpthin' that just works.

Meatball Mania

Sauce, check. Meatballs, check. Now who has an old copy of The Godfather I can borrow?

Tomato Sauce with Butter and Onion
Adapted from Marcela Hazan's Essentials of Italian Cooking

Serves: 4 (makes enough sauce to coat a pound of spaghetti)

Ingredients:
43.5 ounces canned whole peeled tomatoes *
5 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 medium-sized yellow onion, peeled and halved
1 tablespoon sugar
Salt to taste

Preparation:
1. Put the tomatoes, onion, butter, and sugar in a heavy saucepan over medium heat.
2. Bring the sauce to a simmer then lower the heat to keep the sauce at a slow, steady simmer for about 45 minutes, or until droplets of fat float free of the tomatoes. Stir occasionally, crushing the tomatoes against the side of the pot with a wooden spoon.
3. Remove from heat, discard the onion, and salt to taste (you might find, as I did, that your tomatoes came salted and that you don't need to add more) and keep warm while you prepare your pasta.

* If you can find San Marzano tomatoes, they are the best, but I made this with sauce with grocery-store brand canned tomatoes and it still came out delicious.

Nonna Knows Best: 100 Year Old Meatball Recipe
Adapted from "Grandma Maronis Meatballs 100 Year Old Recipe," courtesy of Mike Maroni

Serves: 8 to 10

Ingredients:
1 pound ground chuck
½ cup dried bread crumbs
4 large eggs
4 ounces whole milk
¾ cup grated Parmigiano
½ large yellow onion, diced
2 tablespoons minced garlic
2 tablespoons Concord grape jelly
¼ cup finely chopped fresh Italian flat parsley
¼ cup finely chopped fresh basil
1 tablespoon salt

Preparation:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease a baking sheet with olive oil.
2. Caramelize the diced onion.
3. Mix all the ingredients thoroughly in large bowl. If the mixture seems a little loose add more bread crumbs.
4. Roll meatballs loosely about the size of a golf ball and place on baking sheet. Brown the meatballs in a frying pan until they have a nice golden crust.
5. Place the meatballs back on the baking sheet and bake in the preheated oven for approximately 25 to 30 minutes.

Get 'em while you can...
Before tomatoes are gone for the season, do yourself a favor (you'll thank yourself in a few months when you are longing for that delicious tangy-sweet tomato flavor and all you can find in the stores are red globe-shaped styrofoam replicas masquerading as tomatoes) and buy a big huge bag of fresh ripe tomatoes. Make a pot of tomato sauce, a relaxing Sunday afternoon activity, which you can then freeze and use in hearty winter pasta dishes when you'd rather be curled up at home than out in the freezing rain.

This is the kind of sauce that you almost don't need a recipe to make. It's versatile, flexible, and very forgiving. What you add to it is largely a matter of taste. In fact, I don't think I've ever made the same sauce twice. But I do use the following recipe as a starting point. What ends up in the sauce largely depends on what is in my fridge or pantry at the time, whether it's the simple basic all-purpose sauce here or includes such embellishments as roasted red bell pepper; fresh oregano, thyme or basil; dried red chile flakes, minced garlic, roasted garlic, mushrooms, or zucchini.

You can also use virtually any kind of tomato--heirlooms, beefsteaks, plum tomatoes, or whatever type you can get your hands on. So make your way to the nearest farmers' market, or beg your co-worker for the rest of his tomatoes that he's always handing out in the office, and get that sauce made before delicious fresh ripe summer tomatoes are gone for another year.

Fresh Tomato Sauce

About 40 ripe medium tomatoes
1 large yellow onion
1 or 2 medium carrots
2 or 3 stalks celery
Olive oil
Salt and freshly ground pepper
Red wine

To blanch and peel the tomatoes, fill a large stockpot 2/3 full of water and bring it to a boil over high heat. Cut a small "x" in the bottom of each tomato. Carefully add about a third of the tomatoes to the boiling water, let simmer for about 20 seconds, then remove with a slotted spoon and set aside.

Blanch the remaining tomatoes in this way.
Peel the tomatoes, discarding the skins, then cut in half crosswise and squeeze out the seeds. Roughly chop the tomatoes and set aside.

Dice the onion, carrots, and celery.

In a large stockpot over medium-high heat, warm a few tablespoons of olive oil. Add the onions and saute until they begin to turn translucent, about 3 minutes. Add the carrots and celery and about 2 teaspoons salt and some pepper. Saute until tender and the onions start to brown, about 5 minutes. Add the tomatoes, a few glugs of wine, reduce the heat to low, and partially cover the pot.

Let simmer until tender and saucy, about 1 1/2 to 2 hours. Add salt and pepper to taste. At this point you can leave the sauce chunky...

...or you can puree it with an immersion blender (which is the way I like it).

To store the sauce, let it cool completely, then divide it between freezer bags or other storage containers and freeze.