It has gotten seriously ugly of late. The temperature has been above freezing for several days and it has been raining. It is a damp, slushy, drippy, icy mess! I guess the good news is that it is supposed to stay warm for the foreseeable future so we should be back to bare ground in a few days and ready to give Winter a fresh restart.

Meanwhile, something warm and comforting food-wise seemed like a good idea.

Last Winter, I started making a marinara from roasted veggies. I toss tomatoes, cauliflower, carrots…usually also broccoli – in a baking dish…spritz with olive oil, add salt and pepper and slowly roast everything in a low oven (275). When everything is tender, I add the veggies and a can of tomatoes with their juice to my Vita-mix and puree the lot! I simmer the result with oregano, sweet basil, garlic…adjust seasoning to taste.

The result is beautiful and delicious. I use it on pasta, with meatballs, for pizza sauce and for soup. This jar is only half the sauce made.

The rest, I freeze flat in Zip-loc bags…an idea I saw on Karin’s blog: Paper Route Designs.
Karin is the designer of the jar labels I use and love! Freezing sauces and broths flat allows you to break off just a little as needed.

I need only a small chunk of sauce for a single-serving pizza, pasta or bowl of tomato soup.

Soup, it was on this dreary day! A chunk of marinara, some vegetable broth, some cannelini beans – all in the Vita-mix and the result is a faux-cream* of tomato soup. I doctored it a little further with some chopped kale, pumpernickle croutons and a bit of parmesan. Perfect!

Bob says to save some for him, he’s on his way in!

*I’ve used pureed white beans: cannelini, navy and even garbanzo – to make brothy soups creamy. They do not taste “bean-y” to me but you get the added benefit of protein, fiber and other nutrients from the beans.