Marta's Garden Marinera/RBB

Hi all,

In boxes, this week: tomatoes, squash (summer and butternut), green beans, bell peppers, hot peppers, onions.

Recipe of the week?

Marta's Garden Marinera

15-18 medium tomatoes, blanched, skinned and roughly chopped
1/2 cup sun-dried tomatoes, chopped

1-2 Summer squash or zucchini, chopped
4-6 Bell peppers, chopped
3 onions, chopped
5-7 cloves of garlic, chopped

1 tablespoon+ medium grade safflower oil

2 tablespoons dried basil
1 tablespoon granulated garlic
1 tablespoon oregano

salt and pepper, to taste

2 lbs. ground beef, lightly salted, cooked and crumbled (optional)

Place the tomatoes in a large sauce pot, heat over medium-low heat until they begin breaking down. Blend to smooth texture with a stick blender or by putting them in batches in a regular blender. Stir in the sun-dried tomatoes and continue to simmer gently as you prep other ingredients.

In a large skillet, saute chopped squash, peppers, onion, and garlic in safflower oil. As things soften and become translucent, add basil, granulated garlic, and oregano. Salt and pepper to taste. When the herbs and the granulated garlic seem to have absorbed a sufficient amount of oil (the kitchen will smell fantastic at this point), scrape the entire contents of the skillet into the sauce pot with the tomato base.

Add ground beef if using.

Simmer for 30-60 minutes to allow flavors to blend and sauce to thicken. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Makes 4-5 quarts of sauce.

As for food world news? Columbia's Second Annual Roots, Blues & BBQ Festival seems to have been a smashing success. See the website below for more details:

http://www.rootsnbluesnbbq.com

See you next week!
;-)M