Not too long ago, I planted several tomato plants. My plants have been bountiful, and I’ve been eating tomatoes harvested from my garden in a variety of ways. Today, I wanted to “get rid of” a large harvest, so I decided to make homemade tomato sauce. If you’re overwhelmed by the tomatoes you’re reaping in your yard, you might want to try this recipe. I’m pleased to say that the fresh herbs in this recipe also came from my garden.
Step 1 – Set oven to 350 degrees. Wash, then cut the tops off of your tomatoes. Place on a baking sheet covered with foil. Slather each tomato with olive oil. Use your hands to be sure the entire tomato gets a light coating. Salt and pepper each tomato. Bake for 60 minutes.
After your tomatoes have roasted in the oven, you’ll see that their skins are wrinkled and soft. Let the tomatoes cool until you’re able to handle them. You don’t want to burn your hands.
Now that the tomatoes are cool enough for you to handle, gently remove the skin. It’s easier than you think. Hold your tomato over a bowl so that juice escaping during the skinning process is captured. After the skin is removed you can leave the tomato whole or cut/tear it into a few pieces.
My efforts yielded 3 cups/24 oz. of roasted tomatoes. Now, I’m ready to make sauce. You’ll have to adjust the recipe if you have more or less than 3 cups/24 oz.
Put the tomato sauce into a sauce pan. Add 1/4 c. of brown sugar and 1/4 c. of red wine to the sauce. Saute 1 large shallot, a few fresh oregano leaves, and some fresh thyme (about 1 tbls) in some olive oil (about 1 tbls). Once the shallot is opaque, add this mixture to the sauce. I also added a frozen cube of homemade pesto sauce. You can learn about freezing pesto here – http://www.instructables.com/id/Pesto-Freezing-Method/.
Simmer all together until you’re ready to serve it. I’m serving mine with homemade meatloaf and roasted root vegetables.
