Have you ever had a whole bunch of tomatoes sitting in your fridge or on your counter that you had no way to possibly eat all of them before they went bad?
Or maybe you are like me and just have an itch to make as much of your own food from scratch so you know exactly what is in it.
In either case, making tomato sauce is a daunting task. Skinning the tomatoes. Removing the membranes and seeds. Pureeing. Then finally cooking all day into a proper sauce.
Well, I have good news for you.
You don’t need to remove anything from the tomato in order to create sauce from it, except maybe any soft or scarred spots that you wouldn’t normally eat.
- 8 cups fresh tomatoes
- 1 tbsp minced garlic (or 1-2 cloves)
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 basil leaf
- Wash tomatoes and remove any bad spots. Cut at least in half or smaller.
- Add 8 cups of tomatoes to food processor along with garlic, salt and basil
- Puree until foamy and almost smooth
- Place a large stock pot on the stove and coat bottom with olive oil
- Add tomato puree to pot
- Continue pureeing tomatoes & seasonings in 8 cup batches until you use up all of your tomatoes
- Simmer covered for a few hours or until sauce goes from frothy pink to red watery and finally until it is red and thick.
This recipe was inspired by a recipe at Maria’s Farm Country Kitchen. The original recipe calls for the juice to be squeezed from the tomatoes. I did not do this. I think it may have had to simmer a bit long to reduce the liquid down, but it saved me a step in the process.
I can’t wait to use this for pasta!
this looks fantastic!~
I didn’t even know you could freeze tomato sauce. Every time I make it homemade I end up with lots leftover and worry that it will go bad too quickly sitting in the fridge.
Mmmm! I’ll have to get some fresh tomatoes from my mom’s garden and make some sauce. 🙂
One of my favorite things about having a garden is knowing exactly what I’m eating. I just told my husband last night that I saw where you had mentioned on FB that you just cut the bad spots off of the tomatoes and they are still good to eat. We threw several away this year because we didn’t know that! Pinning this one. Thanks for sharing!
That looks goooood!!! Only 4 ingredients too. I can handle that! 😀
Going to totally try this. Thanks!
I’m with you on saving that step. It looks so fresh and appetizing!
I love homemade sauce. This one is beautiful, not only does it look super fresh, but it has only four delicious ingredients 🙂
This sauce sounds fab Kim! My aunt used to make it completely homemade unlike me who buys puree and her pasta dishes were the best!
Yummy! Thanks for the recipe!
Thank you!! (I forgot to buy bay leaves. I guess C and I will run out today!)
I have been looking for a good tomato sauce recipe, thanks for this.
I used a similar recipe growing up. Fond memories! Smiles!
Homemade Sauce, There nothing better, I will use this recipe later on this week.Looks fantastic.
Very fresh, good tasting. I added sherry, onions, lots of garlic and spices used it for bison meatballs sandwiches! My family and company did enjoy it! It did take hrs to cook down, I used steakmeat tomatoes. Next time, I might use the crock pot to cook down, all day, I think that would work fine. I liked not having to skin the tomatoes. So, for me, that makes this a winner recipe! Tonight I think I’m going to use it for lasagna. Thanks again for sharing the recipe!