My husband had a bumper crop of Roma tomatoes in his garden this year so my daughter and I ended up doing three batches of marinara sauce over three days for the freezer, refining our skills as we went. Here is where we ended up.
I based the seasoning on the simple sauce I make from canned unsalted tomato sauce. I just stir together 1 eight ounce can of unsalted tomato sauce, 1 teaspoon of basil, 1 teaspoon of olive oil, ½ teaspoon of oregano, ½ teaspoon of garlic powder, and a pinch of sugar. I use that for pizza, spaghetti squash, zucchini, and eggplant recipes.
Now we have a small supply of sauce from home grown tomatoes.
Simple Marinara Sauce
Ingredients
- 9 to 10 pounds tomatoes (preferably roma)
- 1 head of garlic, peeled and crushed
- 1 large onion, chopped
- 1 cup of water
- ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
- ¼ cup dried basil
- 2 Tablespoons dried oregano
- If not using head of garlic, 2 tablespoons of garlic powder (NOT salt)
- 4 teaspoons sea salt
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- ¼ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes (optional)
Directions
- Clean and quarter the tomatoes to make sure there are no bad spots inside.
- Combine tomatoes, crushed garlic, chopped onion, and water in a large stock pot.
- Bring to a boil.
- Stir and reduce to a simmer.
- Leave lid on and stir every fifteen minutes for the first hour.
- Tip the lid so steam escapes and continue to simmer for about 3 hours.
- Run the cooked tomato mixture through a food mill with a fairly large whole strainer. You’ll get some seeds but not too many. Can also be pressed through a colander but the food mill is much easier.
- Place the tomato sauce in a pot and bring to a simmer.
- Cook until desired consistency, about an hour.
- Add seasonings and simmer another 15 minutes.
- Allow to cool.
- Package and freeze until needed.
Makes approximately 12 cups of sauce.
Melora Johnson's Muse 