One of the last food projects I took on before the kitchen demolition was to make tomato sauce from scratch. My tomato plants decided to explode in November, partly because of weird fall weather we had. So, i had a TON of tomatoes and with no way we could eat them all. The best part, is that I froze the extra sauce (there was a lot!) so we have some deliciousness while we have no kitchen. The sauce part of the recipe is inspired by my Dad’s tomato sauce recipe, which was my FAVORITE as a kid (and still is). Yum!
If you don’t want to peel & seed your own tomatoes, whole canned tomatoes work well too. It won’t taste as fresh, but most of the time that is now I make sauce. Fresh tomatoes taste great, but I’ll admit it takes some work!
Ingredients
Simple sauce:
- 15 whole tomatoes, OR 2 cans whole peeled tomatoes
- 2 cans tomato paste
- 1 onion
- basil & oregano
- 4 cloves garlic
- salt & pepper to taste
For “super” sauce add:
- 2 lbs italian sausage, hot & mild (I like half & half)
- 2 cups mushrooms
- 1 green pepper
Details
Tomato Prep if using fresh tomatoes:
- Peel Tomatoes. Bring a large pot of water to a boil. While waiting, cut a small X in the bottom of each tomato (only piercing the skin)
- Place the tomatoes in the boiling water for 10-20 seconds
- Then place into an ice water bath for a minute or two
- The skin should peel right off. If not, drop back into the boiling water for a few seconds.
- Seed Tomatoes. Cut tomatoes in half and squeeze/scoop out seeds over a strainer that is over a bowl (to catch the juice).
- Use fingers to scoop out seeds from sections of tomato. Sometimes this is really easy and works great…
- And sometimes, well not so much!
- Once the tomatoes are peeled and seeded, set aside. They can be frozen if you don’t want to make sauce right away.
Sauce Details:
- Chop onion, and other veggies.
- In a deep frying pan or pot, brown italian sausage and cook onions
- Add tomatoes, using fingers to break apart large pieces
- Add tomato paste and some tomato juice.
- For “simple” sauce, simmer for 30-45 minutes adding olive oil, garlic & basil at the end.
- For “super” sauce, add mushrooms, green pepper, garlic and any other veggies. Let veggies soften as sauce simmers for 30-45 minutes. Stir occasionally.
- Add spices close to meal time. Add more tomato juice if sauce thickens too much.
Yields about 4 cups of sauce.
Enjoy! Here’s a PDF of my recipe: Tomato Sauce from Scratch
