Friday, August 22, 2008

Basic Tomato Sauce

My cookbook says this is a "quick-cooked" tomato sauce, but it still has to cook for at least 45 minutes. It's not the ultra fresh tomato sauce some make, but it EXCELLENT with fresh/vine-ripened tomatoes and served over pasta (especially cheese-spinach ravioli like we had last night for dinner). I'm not sure I'd run to the store to buy a bunch of tomatoes for this sauce, but if you have a garden or stumble onto a good deal for very fresh tomatoes, this is a great way to use them up. It's also a good recipe if you're looking for a very fresh tasting sauce that's sort of the main point of dinner (i.e. not the quick spaghetti dinner most of use as the old standby after a busy day). The fresh herbs and the garden-fresh tomatoes really make the sauce; I don't recommend substituting. I halved the recipe and had more than enough to sauce 1 pound of pasta. Mmmmm....

Recipe from Gardeners' Community Cookbook

5 pounds tomatoes, peeled, seeded, and chopped, juices reserved
1 large onion, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced or pressed
1 small green bell pepper, seeded and finely chopped
2 T. chopped fresh basil leaves (1 T. dried)
1 1/2 T. chopped fresh oregano leaves (2 t. dried)
2 T. chopped fresh parsley
1/4 t. grd. ginger
1/4 t. grd. allspice
1 1/2 T. brown sugar
1/2 t. salt
1/4 t. pepper
1 1/2 T. red wine vinegar
1/2 c. tomato paste

Place all ingredients in a nonreactive pot and stir to mix. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat, and simmer gently, stirring once or twice, for 45 minutes, or until the vegetables are soft. Use right away or cool and refrigerate up to 1 week. You can also can in a boiling water bath (15 minutes) or freeze.

Makes 7 cups

1 comment:

$5 Dinner Mom said...

I was thinking about going back to homemade spaghetti sauce THIS morning! I usually use the jar for convenience sake...I used to make homemade and stopped once we had kids! You have inspired me to start doing it again...it looks to yummy not to! Mind if I link you to an upcoming post? I am still excited about the pumpkin yogurt...I'm not going to the store again because we weren't gonna be out of town all weekend, but you better believe I'll be picking up some pumpkin and plain yogurt next week! I know my boys will love it! Thanks for sharing your stellar ideas!