Each summer I grow my tomato plants and use them to make sauce, which I freeze for later use. It's very reassuring to look in the freezer and see containers of sauce stacked up, waiting to be used in various recipes. But, now the sauce from fresh picked tomatoes is gone and the tomato plants are finished for the season. So,it's time to make tomato sauce from canned tomatoes. The sauce isn't quite as good as when you use fresh picked tomatoes, but it's still good. And it's much better than the bottled sauces in the grocery store.
This is basically the same recipe I learned to make while I was growing up, watching my mother prepare it. It's one of those almost instinctive recipes, where you don't really measure things, you just eyeball the ingredients and the correct amount "feels" right. But, I did measure this time, sort of.
To begin, saute 2 large onions, 1 heaping cup of chopped carrots, 1 cup coarsely chopped parsley, and 3-4 large cloves garlic in olive oil for about five minutes or so.
Add around 12 pounds of canned plum tomatoes, (if you have fresh tomatoes, use them) and cook over high heat until it begins to bubble. Turn down the heat and simmer for at least one hour, stirring it occasionally. Of course the house will begin to smell wonderful. After it has cooked for at least an hour, run it through the food processor until it's smooth. Or do what I did for these pictures: use a stick blender. Add salt and ground pepper to taste.
The finished sauce, with a handful of basil leaves sprinkled on top. Turn off the heat before you add the basil. If you have some good bread, tear off a hunk and dip it in the sauce
and imagine you are Clemenza teaching Michael Corleone how to make
tomato sauce in the Godfather. Or Ray Liotta making tomato gravy in Good Fellas. I'm Irish-American, but I love those Italian movie guys. If you prefer, can it, but I'm tired of lugging out the canner, so I freeze it.
Serve with pasta or as a base for other recipes. Enjoy!
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