A Simple and Delicious Tomato Sauce

We're harvesting tomatoes! The warm/cool temps have launched the tomatoes into ripening mode. In the past week, I’ve picked about a pound of tomatoes each day and I don’t see that stopping anytime soon. 

We’ve also harvested our first delicata squash and the green beans are finally coming in. I was beginning to feel like that space had been wasted and there were a couple times I was tempted to pull the entire pole bean mess down and start over but I’m glad I stuck it out. I have planted another round of bush beans (fingers crossed that the package is labeled correctly) with luck we’ll get an excellent second crop. 

I have to say the winter squash is our signature crop - the Honeynut butternut squash has exploded. Every time I go out to the garden I find a few more; some are going to be large and others small but all have that sweet promise of soups, stews, baked with maple syrup and walnuts, stuffed with wild rice …. the possibilities are endless. 

Meanwhile back in tomato land, I’ve got 3 areas on the counter; one for tomatoes that are for sandwiches (normally the heirlooms and meaty tomatoes), one for gazpacho, and one for the need to use now, which means make the sauce. The gazpacho pile is short-lived because you can only have so much gazpacho but I do love a batch or 2 every summer. And for those of you who know I find no redeeming qualities in tomato juice - don’t ask, I can’t explain it. 

I try to keep my go-to tomato sauce simple so that when I pull it out of the freezer I can transform it into whatever I want. Sometimes it's chili, others a red pasta sauce and sometimes I need it for a nice curry. Many people will tell you that paste (Roma) tomatoes are the best for sauce but I disagree, if you have a high-speed blender like a Vitamix, you can use any tomatoes, which in my humble opinion, deepens the flavor. 

Ingredients:

Tomatoes - enough to fill the bottom of a large roasting pan

1 head of garlic - roughly chopped

2 onions - roughly chopped

olive oil 

1 handful of fresh basil (more or less it’s up to you)

salt and pepper to taste

Instructions:

Preheat the oven to 400. Wash and chop tomatoes (I cut large tomatoes into 6 pieces, cherries in half and quarter smaller ones) and put in a single layer in a large roasting pan. Add garlic and onions and a generous pour of olive oil. Stir to make sure all tomatoes are oil-covered and place in the oven to roast for @ 1.5 hours or until the juices are almost gone. Check on the sauce and stir at the 45-minute mark and then every 15 minutes after. 

Remove from the oven and let cool completely. Scrape all tomato bits into a high-speed blender and blend on high until seeds and skins are obliterated @ 1 minute. Pour into freezer bags and freeze for later use. 

Thanks for stopping by!