As the wonderful tomatoes continue to pour into farmers markets these long summer days, we’ve been fiddling around with various recipes for to savor their peak summer flavors.
Of course we’re talking tomatoes on the menu for the nightshade tolerant and those who choose to partake; remember they’re a potent source of lectins per Dr. Gundry, but also packed with lycopene and other beneficial phytochemical warriors, along with vitamins C, A, and host of the Bs as well.
We’ve tended to drift a bit over the past few years from our historical family consumption of tomatoes and tomato-based sauces given our bent toward a keto-inspired food plan, and the sometimes hefty carb counts some tomato sauces in particular have. Like many of you, we’ve transitioned to much less sweet (no additional sweetener) homemade primal ketchup, meatza sauces, etc.
In particular lately I’ve been searching for a no-cook tomato sauce to pour over various vegetable noodles or konjac pastas, and we’ve finally settled on this Quick No-Cook Tomato Sauce as being our favorite.
Why? The combination of a flavor-packed tomato puree (along with garlic, basil, and red pepper flakes) with halved grape or cherry tomatoes, along with the nuts – is simply delicious, and it’s different enough to be novel and interesting as well. Mind the garlic – my wife thinks two large cloves is too much in terms of pungent raw garlic flavor, though garlic lovers may want to throw that third clove in…
The nuts are a great play as well; we’ve used hazelnuts (our fave), almonds, and macadamias – don’t be afraid to experiment a bit.
1/2 cup almonds or hazelnuts
1 pound grape or cherry tomatoes, halved
1/2 tsp good salt
1 medium to large fresh garden tomato, roughly chopped
1 cup fresh basil leaves, divided
1-2 garlic cloves, smashed
1/4 good olive oil
1-2 tsp red pepper flakes
1/2 tsp good salt, more to taste
Fresh ground pepper to taste
Toast your nut of choice at 350 for 6-8 minutes; cool and then roughly chop and set aside.
Halve the grape or cherry tomatoes, throw in a large bowl, and sprinkle with 1/2 tsp salt.
Into your trusty food processor or blender goes the large chopped tomato, 1/2 the basil, 3 tbsp of the chopped nuts, the garlic cloves, red pepper flakes, and the other 1/2 tsp of salt. Blend/puree until smooth, then pour over the halved tomatoes.
Stir to combine, then stir in the rest of the basil, the remaining nuts, and the olive oil; mix well. Adjust for salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes.
Enjoy.
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