you say tomato, I say delicious!: 100% organic, 95% local tomato sauce

Hello, August! In the land of food, August is the month of tomatoes. For the first time in my life, I have a ridiculously bountiful collection of tomato plants in my garden, which means my countertops are constantly full of the juicy, red beauties.

If you haven't had the opportunity to enjoy a home-grown (as in non-grocery store) tomato, missing out doesn't being to describe it, my friend. Get your patooty to the nearest farmer's market (or neighbor's garden) and find yourself a tomato. Take it home, wash it, slice it, stick it in between two slices of bread (sprouted, please!), slab some mayo (Veganaise if you're veg) on there and get ready for taste bud ecstasy. 

Love your garden and your garden will love you!

Stay on topic, Joanna. OK. With two huge bowls filled with ripe tomatoes and a vacation on the horizon, what's a girl to do? Make homemade tomato sauce, of course! This sauce is hands down, the best sauce I've ever made -- and tasted. Period. For those of you who know me, I have the goods to back that statement up. Growing up Italian, I've always had high standards when it comes to tomato sauce. So many store-bought (and restaurant) tomato sauces are chock full of high fructose corn syrup and preservatives, and don't taste good. When you're time-crunched and find yourself in a pinch, okayyyyy, I won't judge you. However, after you make my tomato sauce recipe, I doubt you'll want to use the store-bought stuff :)

There are two important principles when it comes to making tomato sauce: use fresh ingredients and keep it simple. I've made tomato sauces using onions and carrots. This one has neither and tastes amazing. Typically, homemade tomato sauces call for crushed, canned tomatoes. Using fresh tomatoes requires an extra step. In order to get the right consistency, you'll need to cook the tomatoes and send them through a food mill.
Without a food mill you'll need to peel, seed, and mash the tomatoes by hand. Not the end of the world, simply requires more patience.

Bright and beautiful

Since tomato season comes and goes faster than you can say summer-is-over, take advantage of it while you can. This recipe can be doubled or tripled and stored in the freezer and will brighten up a chilly winter meal.

Okay, enough blabbing. Get cooking! This sauce is so good, I ate two bowls of pasta ... at 10pm tonight. Oh, yeah.

Peace, love, & happy cooking --
Jo




Garden-Fresh Garlicky Tomato Sauce 
Makes about 4 cups

Ingredients
8-10 medium and large tomatoes, washed, cored, and quartered
2 (7 oz.) jars tomato paste (I like Bionaturae)
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 tablespoons cold-pressed olive oil
1-2 tablespoons Celtic sea salt
Pepper to taste
Pinch of red pepper flakes
1/4 cup fresh basil leaves, chopped

Put the tomatoes in in a heavy bottomed saucepan (at least 6 quarts) and cook over medium heat until the tomatoes begin to release their water and bubble. Reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer (uncovered) for about an hour until most of the skins have fallen off and the tomatoes are very mushy.

In small batches, transfer tomatoes and their juice into a food mill (placed over a large bowl) and churn. Don't forget to scrape any puree that is stuck to the bottom of the mill. The pureed tomatoes will look watery at this point.

Rinse out the same saucepan and add the olive oil over medium heat. Add the tomato paste, garlic, and red pepper flakes, and cook until the paste begins to brown, about 5 minutes. <-- Don't skip this step!! Browning the tomato paste is the secret behind delicious sauce. Whisk in the tomato puree, stirring well, and  reduce the heat to low. This is important because you don't want to burn the sauce. Cook for an additional hour in order to let the sauce thicken. Add the salt and pepper. Once the sauce is finished cooking, stir in the basil.

Serve immediately over pasta or vegetables or let cool, ladle into mason jars and freeze.

Note: 2 cups of sauce is plenty for a pound of pasta.