Made From Scratch: Tomato-Basil Sauce


Since we were being overrun by tomatoes, I opted to make up a batch of tomato sauce over the weekend. Initially, the plan was to can a jar, but when all was said and done, I only had about half a quart of sauce. Since we didn't have any pint jars, I just jarred it up to store in the fridge, and skipped the canning process all together. This ended up not being a bad thing, as it meant I could try out the sauce sooner rather than later. Quirky fun fact? If it's up to me, I prefer to serve my spaghetti sauce cold over the hot pasta. Weird, I know.

Tomato-Basil Sauce (printer-friendly version)
makes about 2 cups


6-7 organic tomatoes (I used a combination of roma and beefsteak tomatoes)
1/2 T olive oil
1 organic yellow onion, chopped
1/2 organic red pepper, chopped
4 cloves organic garlic, minced
juice from one lemon
1/4 C red wine (I used zinfandel)
2 T fresh organic basil, chopped fine
1/4 t black pepper
1 t dried oregano
salt to taste

1. Add the olive oil to a medium-sized saucepot and heat over medium-high heat. Add the chopped onion and red pepper and saute until softened, about 5-10 minutes.
2. Make an ice water bath in a large bowl. Set aside.
3. Meanwhile, bring a large pot of water to a boil. Once the water is boiling, add the tomatoes, 2-3 at a time. Allow to boil for about 45-60 seconds, then remove the tomatoes from the boiling water and plunge immediately into the ice water bath.
4. Peel the skins off the tomatoes and squeeze each of the tomatoes to remove excess moisture and remove the seeds. Place the prepped tomatoes into the bottom of a large stockpot.
5. Heat the stockpot over medium heat.
6. Add the cooked onions and red peppers to the tomato base and stir to combine.
7. Stir in the minced garlic, red wine, lemon juice, chopped basil, oregano, and black pepper.
8. Lower the heat to allow the sauce to simmer.
9. Continue to cook the sauce until it has thickened. I allowed it to simmer for about an hour and a half; if you like a thinner sauce, you needn't cook it for such a long time. I prefer a chunky sauce, so I just used a wooden spoon to break up the tomatoes; if you like it less chunky, use an immersion blender to bring the sauce to the thickness you desire.
10. Use immediately, or store in the fridge in a closed container for up to a week.
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