Tomato Pasta Sauce

Tomato Pasta Sauce

Posted by Cris

We love our fresh tomatos all summer, but then they all come at once so we blanch them (quick 10 secs in boiling water), peel the skins and core them and freeze them in bulk.

And then hunting season comes and I start cooking. Only this year Jon didn't go up nort' so he helped!

Ingredients

Tomatoes

Zucchini (or squash)

Onions 

Garlic

Basil

Salt and Pepper

I would love to give you exact amounts and all so you could replicate this, but that's not how I cook.  I had 4 big gallon ziploc bags of tomatoes, 6 cups of zucchini (measured pre-frozen) and 1 onion and LOTS of garlic  (10-14 cloves) basil and salt and pepper are to taste. 

Here are the steps - defrost (it took a good 24 hours for those tomatoes)

Chop and Saute the onion and garlic.

Enjoy the smells!   Put it all in the slow cooker to marinate. 

 Add the garlic and onions to the slow cooker. 

 Add BASIL (I love basil! check out pesto here!) I rescued this tiny plant from the garden and its now on my kitchen windowsill for fresh basil all year long.  I also have a lot of dried basil.  Both work great.  

  

 Zucchini is not the most common ingredient in tomato sauce, but we always have a lot of excess that I shred and freeze in 2 cup portions.  *Why 2 cups? It's the right amount for zucchini muffins. The reason I add it is to thicken the sauce and add some extra vitamins and vegetables - what the kids (and hubs) don't know won't hurt them.   

So when it thaws there is a LOT of excess water. Since we are trying to thicken the sauce that needs drained off.  I put all of it into a cheese cloth.   

Wrap it up and strain.  It's really easy.

Okay - so that goes into the slow cooker too.  Mix it all up. Let it cook on low for 6-8 hours or high for 4 hours.  Taste it throughout and add salt and pepper.  If it tastes bitter, you can add carrots (shredded or cooked/mashed) to sweeten things up.  I had to do this last year, but this year it was fabulous without. 

When all done cooking its still very chunky.  We like our tomato sauce well pureed - so we put it in a blender and puree away. 

You can certainly eat this right away or store in the fridge for a few weeks.  

We went ahead and added to jars and started the canning process! 

You need to leave a 1/2 inch of head space. 

Its a water bath process - which I think is easier than pressure cooking, but whatever. 

They have to stay in there for 35 minutes.

And when it was all done we have 12 jars of beautiful homemade Tomato Pasta Sauce. 

PS - Also amazing as PIZZA sauce. 

Homemade Pizza

Our kids LOVE pizza! We do too.

Here's a fun way to make dough from scratch then on a busy night, you just need to thaw it in the fridge before you leave for work and make a pizza (10 mins), cook it (15 mins) and ENJOY.  Less than 30 mins, and feeling like you rocked dinner - kids and you both love it.

Pizza Dough Recipe

Makes one thick crust or 2 thin crust pizzas

1 Tbsp active dry yeast

1 cup warm water

1 tsp sugar

1 tsp salt

2 Tbsp Olive Oil (can use substitute)

2 1/2 cups Flour (we like whole wheat)

1/4 cup flaxseed (optional)

Dissolve the yeast in the warm water (temperature matters here).

Add the rest of the ingredients in and mix. Knead into a smooth dough (5 minutes or so).

The great part about this recipe is it takes the same amount of time to make one batch or four.  So I made four and froze the extra three.  Why make more work for myself later?

So with your ball of dough, roll it out on a floured surface to the thickness you like. If thick - poke with a fork a few times to prevent bubbles when baking.  My kids like to help with this part- I think mostly they played in the flour on the counter - but whatever. 

Take the extra dough and put it straight into bags and freeze.  

If you have homemade pizza sauce, definitely use it! If not, any spaghetti/marinara sauce will do. 

Add your cheese and other toppings.  You can see how adventurous my family is.  We are having cheese and pepperoni tonight.  I really like when we make individual pizzas then I can add my Pesto and fresh mozzarella with some tomato slices, peppers, and onions on top. I can't even wait until the goats have milk and we make goat cheese!  

Bake at 425 for about 15 minutes.

Let cool and eat.  Repeat with the dough in the freezer as needed.  

This is easy, really, and fun.  Great to try on a rainy weekend and get the family excited about dinner again.