30 September 2014


Pork slow cooked in flavorful tomatoes and herbs until fall-apart tender and served over creamy parmesan polenta.  Sounds good, doesn't it?  We enjoyed this meal last week when the temperatures were starting to dip and comfort food was on our minds.  

Red Gold sent me another packet of goodies!  They asked if I would help promote their "2-A-Day Crock-Pot Giveaway".  Everyday, two Red Gold fans will win an awesome Crock Pot.  That makes 44 winners!  The promotion ends on October 8th, so hurry over to their Facebook page now to enter.  (Make sure to come back here afterwards to check out this awesome recipe I made with Red Gold tomatoes!)

In order to help promote this great giveaway, Red Gold asked if I would like to create a warm, comforting slow cooker meal using their tomatoes.  No problem!  They sent me six cans of tomatoes, this rockin' wooden spoon, and an apron to give away to one of my lovely readers.  Stay tuned after the recipe for instructions on how to enter the giveaway.

Nice spoon, huh?


I have a new title. :)

Pork loin went on sale right around the same time I got my stuff from Red Gold.  I love pork loin.  I actually find it much more versatile than tenderloin, which is more popular.  I love to stock up on the loin when it goes on sale for $1.99/lb.  There are so many things you can do with it.  My favorite thing to do is to throw a hunk of it into the slow cooker, cover it in an easy sauce of some type, and then forget about it all day.  My Savory Apricot Pork follows this method.  Since tomatoes were on the agenda for this, I decided to go with an Italian flavor profile this time.  

Slow Cooker Italian Pork over Polenta

Ingredients:
2 lbs. pork loin
½ tbsp fresh oregano, chopped
½ tbsp fresh thyme, chopped
1 tsp onion flakes
1 tsp salt
Freshly grated Parmesan cheese, optional

Directions:
Place pork in a 3 quart slow cooker.  In a small bowl, combine the diced tomatoes (with their juice), fresh herbs, onion flakes, and salt.  Pour tomato mixture over the pork.  Cover slow cooker and set to low.  Cook for 7 hours.  Carefully remove pork from slow cooker and let rest 5-10 minutes.  Cut into slices or break up into chunks.  

Polenta:
Bring 3¾ cups water and 1 tsp salt to a boil in a medium saucepan. Add 1½ cups cornmeal in a steady stream, whisking constantly. Lower the heat to medium-low and cook, stirring constantly, until the polenta is very thick, about 5 minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in 2 tbsp butter and ¾ cup parmesan.  If polenta thickens too much, stir in some milk.

Serve pork over warm polenta, garnishing with additional freshly grated Parmesan, if desired.

Makes 6 servings.



Wow, this was so good!  It took all of 5 minutes to throw together in the morning, didn't need a single thing done to it all day, and came out so perfectly tender and flavorful at dinnertime.  The polenta is simple and quick to whip up too.  This is an awesome meal for those busy weeknights.



The petite garlic and olive oil tomatoes were just perfect for this.  The smaller chunks of tomatoes were just the right size and the garlic and olive oil complimented the other flavors perfectly.  I happened to have fresh herbs on hand when I made this, but you can of course use dried instead.  I would decrease the amounts of thyme and oregano to 1/2 tsp each if using dried.


 Now, how about the giveaway?  I am giving away a gorgeous, tomato red, official Red Gold apron.  I received an apron identical to it when I participated in the summer promotion, so I can tell you this apron is pretty cool!  It has adjustable straps and nifty pockets.  It has become my favorite apron.  So I am excited to share the apron love with one of my lovely readers.  As an added bonus, if someone local to me wins, I will throw in 6 cans of tomatoes as well.  I would love to offer that to everyone, but the cost of shipping 6 heavy cans of tomatoes is too prohibitive to me.  So they will just be an added bonus if someone in my community happens to win.


All you have to do to enter this giveaway is to comment on this post telling me your favorite dish to make with canned tomatoes.  I also strongly encourage you to enter Red Gold's slow cooker giveaway, but I won't make that a requirement.


So tell me what you like to make with tomatoes, making sure to enter your email address into the comment form (it won't show up publicly), and I will pick a random winner next Tuesday, October 7th.  Good luck!



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18 comments:

  1. Would make lasagna with it. - twitter.com/sandyhills25

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  2. I use canned tomatoes in my crock pot chili.

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  3. I like to use red gold tomatoes in taco soup!

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  4. I love making my own tomato basil soup!

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  5. Spaghetti, lasagna, bread, pizza, meatballs and sauce
    drkkali@aol.com

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  6. I like to make yummy chili with tomatoes!

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  7. i like to make turkey chili in the crock pot!


    kmcgrew213@aolDOTcom

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  8. I Love making homemade Lasagna or spaghetti with Red Gold tomatoes.

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  9. I actually use canned tomatoes in my beef stew in the crock pot.

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  10. My favorite thing to make with tomatoes is homemade vegetable soup!

    my4boysand1@gmail.com

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  11. i love to make salsa with tomatoes!

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  12. I would make homemade ravioli.

    thepennygirls@aol.com

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  13. I like to make Tomatoes and Rice. It is a family recipe and soooo good!
    katja9_10 at Hotmail dot com

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  14. Marnie G (Derrick Todd)October 6, 2014 at 10:19 PM

    I love to make slow cooked spaghetti sauce in the crock pot. The smell in the house is amazing. I then use the sauce for a couple meals - Eggplant Parmesan, Spaghetti and Zuchini Noodle Lasagna.

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  15. I make a great chili!

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  16. I love to make soup with canned tomato -- a really thick minestrone sounds great right now.

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