This summer has brought a bounty of tomatoes from my garden.
In addition to the 3 plants I purchased in April, Butcher Son was given an
additional 6 plants from customers and friends. This has yielded an
unprecedented (for me) amount of Roma, San Marzano, and several varieties of heirloom tomatoes. We have had our share of bruschetta and caprese salad,
I’ve made two batches of sundried tomatoes, and now find myself making tomato
sauce every weekend. So I thought I would document the process in pictures,
making it easy for you to follow along. Because it really is a simple process.
And you don’t even have to drag out the canner. You can just pour the final
product into jars or Tupperware and throw them in the freezer for use in the
fall or winter when you want a taste of summer!
Step 1: Cut up your tomatoes: I cut my pear-shaped tomatoes
in half and large tomatoes into quarters, removing the stem end. I usually fill
one large bowl.
Step 2: Cut up your vegetables. Dice one onion and mince 6
cloves of garlic. Heat some olive oil in a large stewpot over medium high heat
and sauté for a few minutes until translucent, stirring occasionally.
Step 3: Mince some fresh herbs. I use basil, rosemary and
oregano from the garden. Add these and the tomatoes to your stewpot.
Step 4: Add red wine. I add about a cup of red wine to my
tomatoes, but feel free to add more or less, depending on your taste and the
amount of wine on hand.
Step 5: Add salt. Start with one tablespoon; you can always
add more later.
Step 6: Cook your sauce. Put a lid on your stewpot and cook
on medium low, stirring occasionally. I usually cook my tomatoes for about an
hour.
Step 7. Pick out the skins. Every time I stir the pot, I use
tongs to pull out the tomato skins that have separated from the tomato. I find
this easier than skinning the tomatoes beforehand. You don’t have to get them
all, just the majority.
Step 8: Puree. When the tomatoes have cooked down
sufficiently, I use a stick blender to puree the sauce. If you don’t have a
stick blender, I highly recommend you buy one, but in lieu of that, you can put
batches in a blender and puree. Just don’t fill the blender more than half way or
it will blow the lid off and burn you. (Trust me on this.)
Step 9. Cook down your sauce. Oftentimes my sauce is a bit
soupy after pureeing. This is due to the type of tomatoes I use at any given
time. If your sauce is too runny, just cook on medium with the lid off until
the desired consistency is reached.
Voila! You are done. Let the sauce cool and pour into jars
or plastic containers and throw in the freezer.
I use this sauce for pasta, adding browned ground meat or
Italian sausage, or serve it with meatballs. It’s also great for lasagne,
stuffed shells, or just as it is served with a bowl of plain pasta and grated
Parmesan.