Easy Tomato Sauce

[Mike Nolan]

Easy tomato sauce

This is an adaptation of a recipe I found online, I left out the garlic, used less onion, used water instead of wine and added several spices. Having a good food mill makes this a recipe that doesn't require peeling or coring the tomatoes. Because the tomatoes aren't cut up, the sauce is less likely to separate because the enzyme that is released when you cut up tomatoes is deactivated if they're cooked whole.

In an 8 quart or larger pot:

10 pounds of tomatoes, stems removed and washed but not cored or peeled. Discard any with bad spots (or use for something else.)

2 1/2 cups of water

4 medium onions, diced

Spices (added later):

2 tablespoons oregano

1 tablespoon marjoram

1 teaspoon thyme

2 teaspoons parsley

1/2 teaspoon ground pepper

2 teaspoons salt (or to taste)

2 teaspoons basil (optional)

1/4 cup vinegar (optional)

Cover and cook for about 1 hour on medium heat. It can boil but it shouldn't be a full boil. Using something like a potato masher, crush the tomatoes and cook for another 1-2 hours.

Run through a food mill to remove the skins and (usually most of) the seeds, add spices, then continue to cook uncovered at a simmer or light boil until it has reduced to the thickness you're after, we like it fairly thick. If including the basil, do so at the end and cook for only 10 minutes after adding the basil.

Depending on the variety of tomatoes used, can be fairly sweet, a quarter cup of vinegar can be added along with the spices.

We like it somewhat coarse, if you prefer a smooth tomato sauce you can use a food processor or stick blender at the end.

Depending on how much you reduce it, this recipe should yield about 4 pounds of sauce, around 6 cups.

I use an induction cooktop, you may not have quite as precise temperature control as with gas or electric cooktops but it won't heat the kitchen up nearly as much. (For some reason, it always seems to be in the high 90's when I'm processing tomatoes.)

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