First Tomato Harvest of the Season!

We've been waiting (sort of) patiently all summer for our tomatoes to be ready. This 100 degree heat and no rain has been brutal to them. But today, we finally got our first "crop". The tops were a bit split, so we decided to roast them up and make some homemade sauce. So easy and so good.

We took the tomatoes and cut off the split tops. Sprayed a pan with some cooking spray and layed out the tomatoes, fresh garlic and an onion from the Farmer's Market. Drizzled some olive oil and added some salt and pepper. 350 degree oven for maybe 40-50 minutes and they were done. The house smelled soooo good. From there, I put them in the Vita-mix to blend them together. Transfered them to the stove and added fresh oregano and basil from our garden. Added some salt, pepper, more garlic (is there ever too much?), bay leaves and some red pepper flakes. I also added a little tomato paste to thicken it up. We fried up some vegan Field Roast Italian Sausage to add to the sauce and cooked up some bow tie pasta. Oh my, was this a delicious meal! And plenty of left overs for lunch tomorrow.

Here are the tomatoes before roasting:



And after:



Heirloom tomatoes are my new favorite food. I had an heirloom tomato tart for brunch at Moxie Bakery and Cafe this morning and this for dinner. I never want summer to end.