Wednesday, September 15, 2010

Tomato Sauce

I'm not a huge tomato fan. I like salsa, spaghetti sauce and other cooked tomato types of things, but raw (aside from salsa), not so much. Of course, I'm disappointed whenever my tomatoes don't grow. Go figure.

We did get a few tomatoes from our own Juliet tomato plant, but that was about it. I did however, get boatloads of tomatoes from family and a friend. Yeah!

I made some sauce that I can't wait to use! Lasagna here we come.

Here is the recipe, so you can try it yourself.

Courtesy of Fashionably Foodie.

fresh tomato marinara sauce
an original recipe by rachelle (fashionably foodie)

8 big garden tomatoes, or 10 romas (must be garden fresh. no blando supermart tomatoes! if you must, use a couple big 28 oz cans/quarts of tomatoes.)
1/2 onion, chopped
3 Tablespoons olive oil
1 bay leaf
6 cloves garlic, minced
2 teaspoons basil
1 teaspoon oregano
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1 1/2 teaspoons sugar
2 teaspoons balsamic vinegar

drop half of the tomatoes into boiling water in a big stockpot and boil for 45 seconds. remove to a big bowl of ice water. repeat with the other half of the tomatoes. peel dump the water out of the stockpot to use for sauce. set aside.

chop the onion. preheat the oil in the stockpot. (sure you could use less oil, but it adds richness and flavor. minimum 2 Tbsp. ok.) drop the onion in the oil and soften for 5 mins over medium heat.

working quickly, peel the skins off of the tomatoes, they should slide right off after you break the skin. cut out cores and cut tomatoes into big 2-3 inch chunks. (they cook so long, they break down. you can cut them in huge quarters.)

drop the tomatoes into the pot with the onions. add in all of the tomatoes, the garlic and the bay leaf. bring to a boil. hard simmer for a half hour.

add basil, oregano, salt, and sugar. adjust seasonings to taste. (it just depends on your tomatoes. sometimes you need more or less salt, more sugar, just taste. but for heavens sakes, blow on the spoon alot before you taste. just a tip i've come by the hard way. six thousand times.)


hard simmer another half hour. liquid should have boiled down and reduced by about half. stir in balsamic vinegar. taste, maybe add another teaspoon balsamic.

3 comments:

  1. Such an awesome blog! :-) I love it -- great post! Thanks for the recipe!

    Alex

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    http://www.idealcharity.blogspot.com/
    Please become a follower! ;-)

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  2. Great recipe!!! Have a great weekend.
    Bonnie :)

    ReplyDelete