Making tomato sauce

When tomato season starts it usually follows by alot of cooking. Sometimes we get lucky and it's not too hot; and there are days that you really wish you could function only at night when it's tolerable and the heat of the stove won't kill anyone in the house. So you start by chopping alot of beautiful heirloom tomatoes into a large pot... 
Yes, I cook with skin on and seeds inside.. bring it to simmer and keep there for about an hour. Then use immersion blender to puree it all. You can pour it through the strainer to remove seeds if you like and bits of skins that can be tough or you can leave it as is. I do both depending on what type of sauce I'm making. Bring it back to simmer and add a handful of herbs - Italian dry mix or just basil and oregano for flavoring. Add salt and pepper to taste. I also add some smocked paprika. In a separate skillet saute chopped onions and garlic until soft but not brown. Add a cup of red wine and cook for few minutes to get the alcohol out. Mix it into tomatoes. Blend it all again well. Taste for seasoning and adjust as needed. If I'm making marinara I'll add a bit of tomato paste to thicken it. Put into jars and finish canning as usual. And you end up with these for winter..
And then repeat again with the next harvest.. and then again until you get desired quantity that will last you all winter. My goal is to have at least 30 jars of sauce - 1 jar a week minimum. That should last me from mid-October when all fresh tomatoes will be gone, to end of spring.

edit: visit Robin at The Gardener of Eden for more Thursday's Kitchen Cupboard

12 comments:

  1. wow that all looks fabulous! That is alot of sauce.
    Lisa

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    1. Thank you, I'm only up to 15 pints of sauce so far. But another batch is cooking down again tonight and that should give me another 6 jars at least.

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  2. Great job on your sauce making and planning ahead! Nancy

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  3. You're like me. I don't worry about the skins and seeds. I just puree it all and it tastes delicious. I may have to add red wine the next time. That sounds like a nice variation.

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    1. I don't mind seeds and skin - I think it adds to the texture.

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  4. Nice looking sauce. I don't make sauce until winter. I just skin and can all my tomatoes and then work from there in the winter depending what we want to eat. I do make tomato juice in the fall but have a squeezo that removes all the seed and skin after the juice is done cooking.

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    1. I make several types of sauces - plain tomato, meat sauce, marinara, chilli as these are the most commonly used for our dishes. I also have to travel alot in winter and spring so when I'm away my hubby won't have to do any additional cooking other than boil pasta and open a jar of ready to eat sauce. Since I have to be absent up to 9 days at the time for each trip, it's important that sauces are finished.

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    2. I can understand preparing in advance.

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  5. Looks great Jenny! All that sauce sure does come in handy during the winter!

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    1. Thank you, that really is one of my most used ingredients in winter as my hubby is like your italian LOVES his pasta. :)

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  6. Oh, My, Tomatoes... I have to pick my jaw off the floor now.... Pardon me.
    :-0

    <3

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