Recipe by CSA Member and site host, Liz Young
Working at the farm changed me and I can no longer let a summer go by without canning at least 60 lbs of Eatwell tomatoes! I don’t think I have bought many canned tomatoes or sauce, if any, from the store in the last 7 years because I now religiously dedicate a couple of summer days to canning them. Since I wasn’t able to make it to any of the sauce parties this summer (boo!), I ordered a couple of 20lb boxes to come with my CSA delivery. In addition to roasting and saucing tomatoes, I also like to can them whole. I end up running the discarded skins through the food mill and out comes bright crimson/fuschia tomato deliciousness. Since paring with pasta is the obvious and usual choice of what to do with the leftover tomato sauce from canning, I decided to do something different, something cool and refreshing. Mexican-style Shrimp Cocktail sounded like just the right thing!
1 medium onion (or a couple of those purple torpedo onions are great!)
6 cloves garlic, coarsely chopped
2 tablespoons kosher salt, more to taste
1 tablespoon fresh ground black pepper
1 pound large shrimp, peeled, deveined and tails removed OR 1.5 lb frozen bay shrimp
1 cup tomato puree/sauce
1 8oz bottle clam juice
2 juicy limes, reserving 2 wedges for serving
1 juicy lemon
1/2 tbsp Mexican hot sauce, to taste
3 large or 4 smaller radishes, chopped
3 or 4 lunchbox peppers, chopped
1 medium cucumber, chopped (or try with this week’s zucchini instead)
2 medium avocados, choppe
1 heirloom tomato, chopped
1/2 cup cilantro, chopped
1/4 cup basil, chopped
Tortilla chips (optional)
Cut onion in half. Cut one half into large chunks and dice the other, setting aside diced pieces for now. Fill a saucepan with water, add large onion chunks and chopped garlic, and salt and pepper. Bring to a boil, then add shrimp and turn off heat. Let sit for a minute until shrimp are cooked (or if using frozen, until they are heated). Drain and let shrimp cool, removing and discarding onion and garlic.
In a separate bowl combine tomato puree, clam juice, lime and lemon juice, and hot sauce. You can start with the 1/2 tbsp of hot sauce (or less if you are sensitive to heat. If you LOVE spicy and have one of those Serrano chilis left from last week, remove the seeds and membranes and dice one and throw it in!)
In another bowl, combine peppers, diced onion, radish, zucchini and/or cucumber, heirloom tomato, and avocado. Pour tomato concoction and chopped herbs over veggies and toss to coat. Add salt, pepper, or hot sauce to taste. Place it fridge for 30 minutes (or stick it in the freezer for 10 minutes to chill quickly).
If you have them, break out the margarita or martini glasses to serve, lined with a lime wedge and eat the coctel alone or with tortilla chips. Enjoy!