My husband waters a co-workers’ tomato plants for a week every summer with the benefit of bringing home all of the ripe specimens. This year, he was fortunate enough to bring home a TON.
I had been saving some fabulous “meter” pasta for a special sauce- this was IT. This slow-cooked sauce had wonderful concentrated flavor. The recipe was adapted from Food and Wine, contributed by Grace Parisi. Absolutely delicious!
Yield: enough sauce to coat 1 pound of pasta
- 5 lbs tomatoes, coarsely chopped
- 3/4 cups water
- 4 T extra-virgin olive oil
- 3 large garlic cloves, very thinly sliced
- 1/4 to 1/2 tsp crushed red pepper
- 1-2 large basil sprigs
- 1/2 T granulated sugar
- coarse salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- In a large pot, combine the tomatoes with the water, cover and cook over moderate heat until the tomatoes are softened and soupy, about 15 minutes.
- Set a food mill over a very large bowl. Add the tomatoes and puree them into the bowl. You should have about 8 to 9 cups.
- Wipe out the pot and heat the olive oil in it. Add the garlic and crushed red pepper and cook over very low heat until softened, about 1 minute.
- Add the tomato puree, basil and sugar and season with salt and pepper.
- Simmer over low heat until the sauce is thickened and reduced to 5 to 6 cups, about 2 hours.
- Discard the basil, if desired.
- Serve over your choice of pasta, cooked according to package directions. Alternatively, let the sauce cool, then pour into 1-pint plastic containers and freeze for up to 4 months.
One Year Ago:
Two Years Ago:
Three Years Ago:
- Whole Wheat Spaghetti with Browned Butter, Swiss Chard, Walnuts, & Golden Raisins
- Basil Pesto & Tomatoes over Fresh Whole Wheat Pasta
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Love this Josette!! My Dad has a garden and its funny but last night I processed tomatoes in my Vitamix for them to make sauce, 4 big Ziploc bags…but it is oh so good!! Enjoy the rest of your summer!! 🙂
It is wonderful to be able to save summer’s bounty of tomatoes- Great plan with the Vitamix! Hope you are enjoying your summer as well. 🙂
You are making me hungry! Nothing like fresh tomato sauce . SImply perfect.
Thank you so much, Johanne. Nothing beats simple & fresh ingredients! (especially with pasta- in my house!)
Love that fresh taste that garden tomatoes bring to the pot. That’s why I grow them … Well, that and BLTs. 🙂
We did have BLT’s first! 😉
Nice! I do like a lovely homemade tomato sauce 🙂
Thanks, Elaine. 🙂 I am such a sauce person!
Me too!!! Can’t eat a meal without some kind of sauce/dip with it!
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