Slow Cooker Stewed Tomatoes

When our "Little Devil" WAS Little, we used to pawn her off on the grandparents on Saturday nights.  Well I wouldn't call it pawning off.  You know because they liked her.  They were dying to see her and feed her crap like ice cream for breakfast and get her all hyped up on sugar before they brought her back to us.  Mr. Devilish Dish and I considered Saturday nights our "Date Night" which usually constisted of us making a meal together.  When we were first married, and poor, we would eat bagel bites for dinner, then get all dressed up and go to the nicest restaurant in town and split a dessert.  And pretend that we had been out on the town for a fabulous evening and we merely stopped by to have a dessert on our way home.  Fortunately our bagel bite days are over.  Now we're old and tired and we don't have to pawn Little Devil off on anyone.  She's usually working, or out on a date or whatever it is that teenage Little Devils do.  So it's still like a date for us but we usually just grill steaks and bake potatoes.  And eat our other favorite side dish:  Stewed Tomatoes.  As in open a can and heat them up.  It's our all time favorite side.  But opening a can isn't very gourmet, and since I have a reputation to uphold for you guys, I thought playing around with a homemade version would be fun.  Bonus: it goes in the slow cooker which means more time for me!

One of my favorite side dishes!

The slow cooker stewed tomato line-up...
So colorful!

Dip tomatoes in boiling water.

Then drop into ice bath.
This will help remove the skins and
make them easy to peel off.

Halve the peeled tomatoes.
Remove seeds and cores. 
Coarsely chop tomatoes and place in
slow cooker.

Combine with remaining ingredients,
except croutons.

Season well with salt and pepper.
Cook on low 6-7 hours.

Serve topped with croutons.  Enjoy!

Slow Cooker Stewed Tomatoes


4-5 large, ripe tomatoes
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 onion, thinly sliced
1/2 cup chopped celery
1/2 cup chopped green pepper
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1 tablespoon fresh chopped basil
1 tablespoon fresh chopped parsley
1 bay leaf
salt and pepper to taste
croutons

Dip tomatoes in boiling water, then drop into ice bath to remove skins.  Halve tomatoes, remove seeds and core.  Coarsely chop and place in a slow cooker.  Combine with butter, onion, celery, bell pepper, sugar, basil, parsley, bay leaf, salt and pepper.  Cover and cook on low for 6-7 hours.  Remove bay leaf and discard.  Serve topped with croutons. 

Prep Time:  Approximately 25 minutes     Cook Time:  Approximately 6-7 hours