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 Homemade Tomato Sauce
Here is a recipe we
like that can use many of your own home-grown ingredients.
Ingredients
-
One grocery sack of tomatoes - just like for drying, the best and easiest to
use are the Roma, which also do well in the Pacific Northwest climate - they are less prone to
late blight, and also have more flesh, less water, and are easier to skin
and clean.
- Two to
four large onions - yellow or white.
- Ten
or more garlic cloves
- Five
or six medium sized carrots
- Two to
ten red, green, or yellow, peppers - mixed is colorful!
- Two to
six hot peppers (optional)
- A few
smoked or dried peppers (optional)
- One 12
oz can of black olives
- One 12
oz can of mushroom pieces - or fresh
- Three
to six tablespoons of capers
- One
cup or more of good dry red wine
- A
little olive oil for frying the onions etc.
-
Herbs
and spices to taste - that's the fun part
- A word on herbs
spices: mix and match the
following herbs and spices, fresh whenever possible, and in amounts to your
taste - there is no exact amount - be creative! Basil, oregano,
thyme, garlic powder, onion powder, pepper, salt, chili powder, marjoram,
rosemary - what else? - ANYTHING YOU LIKE! Put the fresh herbs in towards the end of cooking type so all of the flavor is not boiled
away.
Directions
 Skip the
next 4 points if you don't mind skins and seeds in your sauce -
Boil a large
pot
of water, and have a another bowl of ice-water nearby
Drop
tomatoes into the boiling water with a strainer or ladle and boil for around 2
minutes
Dip the
tomatoes out and place into the ice water
When they
have cooled, try to slide the skin off and push out the seed mass, if it sticks cut the tomato into halves
or
quarters and try again. Compost the seeds and skins.
Cut
the tomatoes into quarters or eighths and place in a bowl
Chop onions
and garlic and sauté in olive oil until soft - A big non-stick pot can be used
so you
don't have to transfer.
Puree or
very finely chop carrots - add to pot
Chop peppers
(fresh and dried) and add to pot
Boil pot,
and then simmer covered until the whole works is like chunky tomato sauce - 3
hours.
Add all
other ingredients, and season to taste - if you add these ingredients too early,
the flavors
disappear and the capers, olives, and mushrooms loose their shape and texture.
Buon Appitito!
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