Tomato Stew

This post contains a recipe for my homemade version of "tomato stew". That's not really what it is, but I'll get to that in a minute. When I sat down to write this post, which was requested by a friend of mine, I realized that I'd have to explain a few things. Please note that when I write "explain", I mean "write about in depth with some possible rambling" and when I write "a few things" it means "possibly write an entire treatise on homemade cooking".

You've been warned. Onward!

The genesis for this post actually happened roughly a year and a half ago. I wrote out a couple of paragraphs on making pasta sauce and that sat in a file on my computer for a long time. I eventually scrapped it because I wasn't doing anything with it. Then, after posting about "my awesome lunch" on Facebook, I was asked for the recipe.

Here's where we run into our first dilemma and roadblock.

Most of the "standard stuff" that I cook is made up on the spot. There's no recipe and there's no preparation other than saying, "Oh, that needs to be made." I don't state these things to dissuade anyone who wants to learn how to cook or to discourage people from asking me about my awesome food. Far from it. However, that does mean that when I attempt to write out how I do things, it means I'll be doing that at least partially in narrative form.

Righto. Let's begin somewhere and get on with it.

The first thing I should state is that if you're going to make the dish below, it's not officially a stew. Truthfully, it's a pasta sauce. This can be confusing to some people because once I start listing ingredients for it, eyebrows might raise and people will be dumbfounded because they've never considered putting some of the things I have in my pasta sauce. Generally, when people are asked what they put in their pasta sauce, they generally say "meat" and that's about it. That means we're going rather far afield of "normal" for a section of the culinary population here.

The second thing that I'll state is that if you make the dish below, you'll be dealing mostly with fresh ingredients. That means instead of wrangling a bunch of cans you'll be sorting out items of various colors and even one or two that resembles a small, leafy sea monster. In other words, it's entirely possible that you'll be able to save a small kingdom from leafy danger and have a lovely meal at the same time.

Lastly, please do not let the large set of ingredients deter you from giving this a shot. I've listed the smaller amounts of ingredients first and then the larger set. However, the "whittled down" recipe is going to give you enough sauce for two meals for three people or so. I generally make this sauce in large amounts and then freeze it in gallon bags in my standalone freezer. That's not always the case, hence the smaller version, but that's generally the status quo.

Now, the fun part. Generally, if I was going to tell you want to put in this dish to suit your own tastes, I'd be very vague (i.e. "put some meat in there"). That's mainly because pasta sauce is one of the most versatile dishes on the planet. If I ever need to clean out my fridge from leftovers, then pasta sauce is a decent idea. I don't generally do that (and I'm rather glad because I'd have things like rice, tuna salad, or soy sauce in my pasta sauce. While I'm generally adventurous on a culinary way, I'll be skipping that idea, thanks), but that should give anyone reading this a general idea of the consistency of my pasta sauce. "Hearty" is a very appropriate adjective.

Here's a list of ingredients that I generally throw into my pasta sauce when I make it:

Carrots
Kale
Onion
Mushrooms
Meat (Usually hamburger or bratwurst. Bacon and chicken are also solid options.)
Garlic
Celery

Please note that these ingredients aren't required. Other possible ingredients are:

Peppers (green, red, yellow, or orange)
Scallions
Bok Choy
Jalapenos (regular or smoked)
Any other vegetables you want to toss in there

You can see why I call this "stew" at this point, yes?

Okay. Here's the "recipe" if I'm making everything from scratch:

Here's the list of what you're going to need:
A couple of 28 oz. cans of crushed tomatoes
Meat (if you want it)
Veggies (these are NOT OPTIONAL)
Olive oil
Red wine
Sugar, Jam, Honey, or Maple Syrup
Spices (I usually use garlic powder, sea salt, black pepper, oregano, ground cayenne or chipotle pepper, and basil. Rosemary and thyme are also possible options.)

Small recipe (for a 6 quart pot):
2-3 28 oz. cans of tomatoes
.5 to 1 pound of meat
1 carrot
1 celery stalk
3-5 mushrooms
3-5 stalks of kale
3-5 cloves of garlic


Large recipe (for a stock pot):
6 28 oz. cans of tomatoes
2 pounds of meat
3-5 carrots
3-5 stalks of celery
1 package of mushrooms
1 entire bunch of kale
Approximately 1 head of garlic


Step 1 - Cut up the veggies. I generally start with the carrots and cut them in thin, but not paper thin slices. The larger carrot sections get halved and sliced. All of the other veggies get sliced in a similar size. The kale, if you're going to include it, gets rinsed. Then, I separate the leaves from the stalks, rip the leaves into bite size pieces, and then slice the stalks.

Important note: Put the kale stalks with the onions and the kale leaves with the softer veggies like mushrooms after everything is sliced. Keeping those two separate is important.

Step 2 - Get a large pot. If you're just making sauce for the evening, a 6 quart pot is a good idea. If you're planning on freezing some sauce, break out a stock pot. Trust me.

Step 3 - If you're going to use meat, then cut it up when it's raw and cook it in the pot. If you're using bacon, then cook it in whole strips in the pot and move them around until they're done. Remove the meat and drain off as much fat, if any, that you want to remove.

Step 4 - Add in some olive oil on top of the fat that's in the pan.

Step 5 - Saute the onions, carrots, celery, and kale stalks on medium heat until the onions are partially translucent. Then, add the mushrooms kale leaves, and garlic. Please note that the kale leaves are going to take up most of the pot when the second part of this step is done. That's fine. They'll cook down. Stir the vegetables constantly.

Step 6 - When the onions are mostly to fully translucent, add the tomatoes. Stir the contents of the pot well and scrape the bottom of the pot to ensure that the vegetables are mixed well with the tomatoes.

Step 7 - Add the spices. I usually use liberal amounts of oregano, garlic powder, and basil. Three or four shakes of salt from a salt shaker for the small pot and eight to ten for the stock pot. Use a similar amount of black pepper. Next, two or three small taps of cayenne or chipotle pepper.

Step 8 - Add a splash of red wine and a small dollop (for the 6 quart pot) or half a standard spoon (stock pot) of the honey/sugar/maple syrup/jam. Stir everything in thoroughly.

Step 9 - Turn heat to medium high until bubbles start to appear. Reduce heat to medium and let simmer for at least a half hour for the 6 quart pot. The stock pot, I simmer for two to three hours.

Step 10 - Sample sauce and season to taste.


You can either make pasta and use the sauce that way or eat it as a "stew" by eating a bowl of it with nothing else. I highly recommend having Parmesan cheese with it.

By the way, if you live with people that generally don't eat vegetables a possible idea is to take this sauce once it's cooled, stick it in a food processor or blender, and puree it. Generally, the veggies blend in with the tomatoes and no one has any idea they're eating any vegetables.

If anyone reading this has any questions about the recipe, feel free to ask. I hope you enjoy it!