Homemade Tomato Sauce using Fresh Tomatoes

My in-laws planted a couple of tomato plants this year that were labeled as a small cherry variety. Unfortunately for them, luckily for me, the plants were mislabeled and produced a larger fruit that looks like a mix between a roma and pear tomato. The worst part, for my in-laws, about this little mix-up is that the tomatoes aren't very good for eating raw. However, they are perfect for making homemade tomato sauce.

If you've never had it, homemade tomato sauce using freshly picked tomatoes right out of your own garden, or your in-laws' garden in my case, cannot be beat. The flavor is so rich and fresh. I make huge batches and freeze them to use throughout the rest of the year. 

This is kind of a non-recipe recipe. There really aren't any measurements to give because it all depends on how many tomatoes you have and how big of batch you want to make. But trust me, you really can't mess this up. Just add the amount you think is right.

Here is what I did to make a batch of sauce that completely filled my large dutch oven:

Tomato Sauce
1 large onion, chopped
8 cloves garlic, chopped
a huge bunch of fresh basil, chopped
fresh tomatoes
salt and pepper

Start by peeling the tomatoes. Peeling the tomatoes is a cinch, simply bring a large pot of water to a boil, place the tomatoes in the water for 30-60 seconds until you can see the skin starting to bubble up. Remove the tomatoes from the boiling water and submerge in an ice bath. Then you should be able to just pop the skins off.

In small batches puree, in a blender or food processor, 3/4 of the tomatoes. With the other 1/4 of the tomatoes simply squish them between your fingers or roughly chop them. I should note that I don't worry about the seeds in the tomatoes and don't bother taking them out, in the final sauce they aren't even noticeable. If you like, you could always seed them first.

In a large dutch oven, heat 2 tablespoons olive oil and saute the onion for 5 minutes or until soft, season with salt and pepper. Add the garlic and saute another 2-3 minutes. Stir in the basil.

Add the pureed tomato and the crushed tomato until the pot is full. Season with salt and pepper. At this point the sauce looks strangely pink and frothy, but don't worry about either, the color will turn a rich red and the frothiness goes away.

Bring the sauce to a simmer and stir occasionally until the sauce has thickened to where you like it. Check the seasonings. I let mine reduce by about half. This takes a bit of patience as this pot simmered for almost 3.5 hours. But in the end you get the most beautiful, thick, and rich tomato sauce to use all year long.

Enjoy!

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