tomato sauce

There are times when the word from scratch gets thrown around, but I really try to use it accordingly. So, when I say something is from scratch…I mean it. Over the past few days, I made tomato sauce from scratch, alongside pasta from scratch, also. What a difference. To bite into the fresh pasta’s chewy denseness-and to taste the freshness of the flour and egg marring with the tomatoes that were just on the vine days before. Fresh basil from the porch permeating the sauce with it’s rich aroma….paired with a nice Cabernet- life is good.

Now, this all took time -but if you love to cook…(like me) you make time for what you love. I started the sauce the day before, and made the pasta and meatballs the following day.

My little one awoke from her nap to find me making pasta and, of course, she grabbed her chair and dug right in. She repeated my steps and verbally expressed her motions as if she were on a cooking show, I made a “movie” of it with my camera- but had the “food” lens on so it was too close up. Yes, I could have changed lenses, but there was flour everywhere. That’s not good for lens changing! Maybe next post there will be a small “movie” for y’all.

The tomatoes came from a local “u-pick” farm just west of my home. Remember?

so, we had gone out there with my mother-in-law on her most recent visit and I had a plethera of tomatoes!

Now for sauce: First you must peel and seed the tomatoes. To do this, place the whole tomatoes in a pot of boiling water for 2-3 minutes. Allow to cool a bit , then score the skin-it will peel off like magic.

Now, to seed them, you slice in half and gently squeeze over a bowl. Place the remains in a saucepot.

This was about 5 lbs of tomatoes.

Once more this is also not a “recipe” but, I will do my best with measurements.

As for the pasta- I will show you that, too. Let’s do sauce today.

5lbs tomatoes, peeled and seeded

1/3 c chopped onion

1/3 c chopped green pepper

1/3 cup fresh basil

4 cloves crushed garlic

1 tsp black pepper

3 tsp kosher salt

1 carrot, shredded (this takes away the acidity of the tomatoes)

1/4 tsp cloves

2 tbs Italian seasoning

1 tbs crushed red pepper

1 small can tomato paste (if sauce it too runny)

Combine all the above over medium heat, cook 2-3 hrs. Add splash of olive oil just before serving. Enjoy!

I also wanted to tell you that Foodbuzz’s Daily Specials that are still going on- you can’t beat shipping for a buck from Chef’s catalog! (No minimum!) Today it’s an electric salt and pepper mill. How cool is that?!