Tomato Pepper Sauce

Tomatoes of all sorts are taking up a good chunk of space in my csa box as of lately. I'm a fan, so no complaints here. In fact, I'm taking full advantage of the season and purchasing a separate bulk order of 'em from my favorite local farm. One easy recipe to use up some of those tomatoes sitting in your fridge is by making a sauce to use for later dishes. My favorite sauce so far this summer is this tomato bell pepper sauce. 

I love me some bell pepper. I can eat them raw, sauteed, steamed, fried- you name it! You know who doesn't love bell peppers? My boyfriend. Love would be the opposite emotion he feels towards bell peppers. But it's summertime and along with the tomatoes in my csa box, I'm also getting some of my beloved peppers. 

A great thing about this sauce is there is no long roasting time or standing over the stove waiting for the tomatoes to cook down. It's summer and aside from my baking, there is no need for my oven to be on longer than an hour. Rather than miss out on the enhanced flavors you get from roasting, I did a 10 minute broil to get a nice char on all sides of the bell peppers. I then cooked down my onion and garlic, sauteed the tomatoes and peppers, and then transferred to my food processor to puree. Bonus #2, no need to boil and deskin the tomatoes before you start because you're just going to puree 'em anyways and no one will ever know! And bonus # 3 is the use of coconut milk to achieve a nice creaminess rather than heavy cream.

This sauce can be used with your favorite pasta dish or eggplant parmesan. 

It's so creamy and delicious! Trust me! You want to use some of those summer veggies in your house for this sauce!

Tomato Bell Pepper Sauce

3 large red bell peppers

olive oil

1/2 pound plum tomatoes, diced

3 tbsp vegan butter

1 small red onion, diced

4 garlic cloves, minced

1 fresno pepper, sliced

3/4 cup canned coconut milk

1 tsp salt

handful of fresh basil

Drizzle about one tablespoon olive oil over bell peppers on baking sheet. Broil for about 10 minutes or until a nice char is achieved, turning to make sure each side gets some color. Place in a paper bag to steam. While peppers are steaming, start chopping your veggies. After about 10-15 minutes, remove the skins and tops of the bell peppers and dice. Heat 2 tbsp vegan butter in a large skillet over medium high heat. Add onions and garlic- saute for about 3 minutes. add bell peppers and tomatoes. Cook for another 3 minutes and season with 1/2 tsp salt. Transfer to food processor along with fresno pepper and puree until smooth. Using the same skillet, return to medium high heat and melt remaining 1 tbsp vegan butter. Add tomato puree. Slowly add the coconut milk and season to taste with remaining salt. Store in seal tight container in the fridge is using within 3 days, otherwise freeze it.

Enjoy!