Fresh tomatoes make the best sauce to use with pasta, in chili, or just about any recipe you choose. Once tomatoes make their appearance in the garden and at markets they are gobbled up by tomato lovers. Try making your own sauce. Freeze it in bags or jars and enjoy it all year. Peeling the tomatoes is messy, time-consuming, and usually is enough to cause people to think twice about cooking fresh tomatoes. So skip peeling your tomatoes. Skip it? Yes! Homemade tomato sauce just got easy!
Wash your fresh tomatoes and core. Cut half the tomatoes into 2 – 4 pieces and drop in pot. The other half core, and then give them a firm squeeze and seeds and juice will come out. Not all the seeds, but some. Drop these ‘squeezed’ tomatoes into the pot with the others. Add salt, pepper, dried, or fresh spices. I like to toss in some pepper, a sprig of rosemary, basil leaves, and a stem of tarragon. You will be tempted to add some water but don’t. The tomatoes will exude juice as they cook.
Cook on medium heat, covered, for about 40 minutes stirring occasionally. Your tomatoes will cook down and yes, you will see peel and seeds. Don’t worry about that! Get out your immersion blender and blend away until your sauce is smooth. All the seeds, and the peel with all the nutrients, will be blended right into the sauce. If you don’t have an immersion blender, carefully use a regular blender.
Cook an additional 15 minutes without a lid. Cool and store in refrigerator or bag for freezing. It is delicious!
Leave a Reply