Garden Fresh: Marinara Sauce

One of my favorite things about having 6 tomato plants is making homemade sauce. I walk out back, pick up a few pounds of tomatoes, grab some green onions from the garden & cut a variety of herbs. It makes me feel so organic & Betty Crocker.

I think people have a misperception that making their own marinara sauce is difficult. Its easy to do with fresh tomatoes & even easier to do with canned tomatoes. I rarely buy any spaghetti sauce in jar anymore.

This batch made 5 containers of sauce. I put them all in the freezer as I wasn't ready to use them. And this time I labeled them. Last year, I had a made tomato basil soup & marinara sauce, only I didn't label the containers. I packed what I thought was tomato basil soup for lunch one day, only to start eating it going "Hum I think this is the marinara sauce". Still tasted good!

You can customize the sauce anyway you like. I make a few different kinds over the summer, this one was my first batch so I did my standard sauce.

Ingredients:

Lots of tomatoes. I used romas, beefsteaks & bonnies

Green Onions

Garlic

Fresh herbs: oregano, basil, sage

Salt & Pepper

*tomato paste (if after cooking for awhile, the sauce does not thicken up for you, add a few Tbsp of tomato paste)

Blanch tomatoes & let cool. Then peel, degut, squeeze & dice the tomatoes.

In a large pot, heat some olive oil & saute the onions & garlic.

Add the tomatoes & remaining ingredients.

Bring to boil, then reduce hit & simmer for at least an hour.

Check the consistency & taste, adjust accordingly.

Cool completely before freezing.