A super sauce recipe

Let's enjoy cooking !!
 

When the window of opportunity strikes, we are fools not to eat juicy tomatoes at least three times a day until September.

Love them all day, every day… and not just for their exquisite flavor.

Tomatoes deliver a long list of health benefits to us, especially when in season and picked at their peak ripeness from a local farm. According to WebMD, tomatoes have high amounts of lycopene and beta-carotene, two nutrients that have high antioxidant power.

They are loaded with vitamins E and C, which also have antioxidant benefits. And they are also great sources of potassium, a mineral most of us don’t get enough of.

All of this adds up to great benefits for our ability to fend off heart disease and cancer.

There are actually ways to prepare and consume tomatoes that maximizes our body’s ability to absorb these nutrients. For example, when eaten with healthy fats like avocado or olive oil, the body’s absorption of the carotenoid phytochemicals like lycopene can increase by up to 15 times.

Additionally, a lot of these nutrients are found in the tomato skin, so it’s best not to discard the peels when cooking tomatoes in a sauce or juicing them. A better option is to blend them into the dish. In fact, cooking tomatoes is one of the healthiest ways to enjoy them, as the heat concentrates their nutrients.

I feel it is most fitting to include Julia Child’s recipe for Provencal Tomato Sauce here, as it makes the most of the health benefits of this wonderfully aromatic superfood. Enjoy the tomato season while it lasts — and bon appetit!

PROVENCAL SAUCE

INGREDIENTS:

¼ cup olive oil

²/₃ cup finely minced yellow onions

Kosher salt and black pepper

4 teaspoons all-purpose flour

5 to 6 pounds ripe tomatoes, quartered

¹/₈ teaspoon sugar, plus more to taste

4 cloves garlic, minced or put through a press

A large herb bouquet: 8 sprigs parsley, 1 bay leaf and 4 sprigs thyme, all tied in cheesecloth

¼ teaspoon fennel seeds

½ teaspoon dried basil, oregano, marjoram or savory

Large pinch saffron threads

1 dozen coriander seeds, lightly crushed

1 2-inch piece dried orange peel (or ½ teaspoon granules)

2 to 3 tablespoons tomato paste (optional)

DIRECTIONS:

• In a large heavy pot, heat the oil over medium-low heat. Add the onions, sprinkle with salt and cook slowly for about 10 minutes, until tender but not browned. Sprinkle on the flour and cook slowly for 3 minutes, stirring occasionally; do not brown.
• Meanwhile, fit a food processor with the coarse grating blade. Working in batches to avoid overfilling the machine, push the tomatoes through the feed tube to make a coarse purée.
• Stir the tomatoes, sugar, garlic, herb bouquet, fennel, basil, saffron, coriander, orange peel and 1 teaspoon salt into the pot. Cover and cook slowly for 10 minutes, so the tomatoes will render more of their juice. Then uncover and simmer for about an hour, until thick. The sauce is done when it tastes thoroughly cooked and is thick enough to form a mass in the spoon.
• Remove herb bouquet and taste. Season with salt, pepper, sugar and tomato paste, and simmer two minutes more.