Creamy Tomato Fennel Sauce

An experiment that seems to have been successful. On the surface, this recipe seems a bit complex, but, in execution, it really goes rather smoothly. A good use for the roma tomatoes you may be getting at the market or in your CSA right about now (they aren't good for much else due to their firmness and frequent lack of flavor :( ) Anyway, here's a sauce I just made. A lot of it so that I can freeze some and use for the winter. This would make a hearty, earthy pasta sauce or may even be good in lasagna, I think.

For 6 meal-sized servings, you'll need:

• 2 T olive oil
• 1 medium sweet onion, diced
• the stalks and leaves from one fennel bulb (save the bulb and make braised fennel with it), diced
• 1 c vegetable broth
• 1/4 c sugar
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1-2 sweet peppers, diced (I had one huge one, so just used that)
• 2 T tahini
• 10-12 roma tomatoes, diced as small as you can
• 1 T good, aged balsamic
• 3 t crushed red pepper
• salt & pepper to taste

The steps

1. Heat olive oil in a medium saucepan and add diced onion, fennel stalks and leaves, minced garlic, 1/8c sugar, and enough vegetable broth to cover (1/4-1/2c). Cover and simmer on medium-low for 10 minutes.
2. After 5 minutes, add the diced peppers and cover again.
3. After 10 minutes, add the tahini and stir quickly until it lightly coats the other ingredients
4. Add the remaining broth and sugar, tomatoes, balsamic, and red pepper and stir to combine.
5. Cover and simmer for about 15-20 minutes more. Taste every so often and add salt or pepper as needed.