Fired Up Marinara Sauce

What do you do with an explosion of fresh heirloom tomatoes? Start looking for and creating recipes that call for at least 2lbs of tomatoes at a time. I did just that yesterday, and despite setting the ash box of my grill on fire, it was a major success. The great thing about growing several varieties is molding their different flavors and colors together to create a medley of summertime tastiness. Heirlooms are never as big and perfect looking as the plants you may pick up at your local nursery or Lowe's, but they make up for it in abundance and zing.

Whatchu need:
2 lbs of ripe tomatoes
1 cup of portabello mushrooms
2 tbsp of triple cold pressed olive oil
1 medium onion, sliced in half
4 garlic cloves (you can never have too much garlic)
1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
1/4 teaspoon dried basil
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
pepper to taste

I also threw in 3 small black Hungarian peppers to spice things up. Ripened jalapenos would do the same trick.

First off, clean the grates on the grill with a wire brush, especially if there is a lot of your roommate's nasty hot dog remnants glommed on them. Use a charcoal grill if you have one, gas grills don't add that smokey flavor. I also use lump charcoal, not briquettes (which are horrible for the environment).

Get that fire going and wait about 15-20 minutes until the heat is around medium high. Roll up a couple of paper towels and dip them in olive oil. Then wipe the grates with the oil so the tomatoes and onions don't stick and are easily flippable. Cut your tomatoes in half and place them on the grates "cut end" down for about ten minutes. Do the same with your onion. Don't worry if they start to blacken. It's flavor and part of the reason we are grilling! Flip them over and let them cook for a few more minutes. Remove them and let them cool to the touch.

While the tomatoes cool, dice the onion, garlic and mushrooms and heat them on medium in a big pot with olive oil. Go ahead and add the oregano, basil, thyme, salt and pepper. Let it start bubbling and reduce it to simmer. Peel the tomatoes (it's easy now!) and slice them up into quarter inch chunks. Add them to the pot and let it simmer uncovered for 45 minutes to an hour. If it gets to thick, add some red wine. If it stays to thick, add some water.

Now you're ready for some kick ass pasta!!