Fresh Tomato Sauce
If you have never made homemade tomato sauce before, it's easy, but it does require spending some time in the kitchen. I recently made my very first batch, and I love the way it turned out. We had a sweet neighbor give us a handful of beefsteak tomatoes, and they were perfect for this recipe. Any tomato you have an abundance of from your garden or that you receive can be used for this recipe.
Makes 3 cups
Ingredients:
4-5 beefsteak tomatoes, washed
1 small onion, chopped
1/2 tsp. minced garlic
1 tsp. dried parsley flakes
1/4 tsp. dried basil
1/2 tsp sugar
black pepper to taste (I used 4 turns on the peppermill)
pinch of Kosher salt
Directions:
Bring a Dutch oven of water to a boil over high heat. In the meantime, fill a large bowl with ice-cold water and set aside.
Cut out the stem of the tomato, then turn it upside down on a cutting board. Using a knife, cut a shallow "X" on the bottom of each tomato.
Placing a few tomatoes in at a time into the boiling water until the skin starts to peel at the "X" mark or becomes wrinkled (60 seconds). Using a slotted spoon, remove the tomatoes from the boiling water and gently place them into the cold water to cool. Repeat this step until all of your tomatoes are blanched.
Using your hands or a paring knife, remove the skins from the tomatoes. Discard both containers of water. To the Dutch oven, sauté onions and garlic until onion becomes translucent.
Depending on how many tomatoes you are working with, you may need to work in batches for this step. Cut the tomatoes into quarters and place them into a food processor. Pulse until you reach the desired consistency. Add to the Dutch oven and stir. Bring the sauce to a simmer over medium heat for 60-90 mins. Stirring occasionally; until it reaches the consistency; you desire.
Let the sauce cool, and then transfer it into containers for up to 3 months. Label the container with the date made.
Photo credit: Valley Nutrition & Wellness, LLC/Jessica Clark, RD, LDN