The tomato sauce we made? Out of this world amazing. I thought I'd share the recipe for those of you who might like to make a gigantic vat of the stuff. First off I have to tell you that I used a counter top roaster oven, which you can purchase for under $40. at places like Target or Wal-Mart or other places that carry kitchen stuff. Mine is an 18 quart model. That means it only holds 1/2 bushel. And THAT means I had to make this in two batches. So, this recipe is probably best made in 1/2 batches. I will write it here as I received it, but you will probably want to cut it in half. The full batch makes about 15 quarts. The sauce can be turned into spaghetti sauce, or sauce for other Italian dishes, or even soups.
We bought a bushel of tomato's and the other veggies we needed at the local farm stand and went to work. The beauty of this recipe is that you do not have to skin the tomato's... this saves lots of time and effort. Here it is....
1 bushel tomatoes, cored but not peeled. If large, cut them in half.
4 hot peppers (I take the seeds out of mine, I like a little heat, but not lots.)
3 sweet peppers (cut out the seeds and stems and toss them into the mix)
12 onions, peeled and cut into biggish chunks
2 heads of garlic (peel the cloves and toss them in whole)
1 C. olive oil
Put all these in the roaster and cook it high (450 or 500 until all the veggies are mushy, 2-3 hours.)
Stir occasionally. Some of the veggies will get blackened, this is OK. Let cool a bit, then blend in batches to smooth. (PS, I toss in a chunked up zucchini or two, it adds body and vitamins!)
Put blended sauce back into roaster. Add:
1 c olive oil
1/4 c oregano
Basil to taste, (start with 1 Tbs. and go up from there)
1 c sugar
8 small cans of tomato paste
1/2 c salt
pepper to taste (we like 1/4 c)
Cook at 325, stirring every hour, for 6 hours or so. Cool.
We put the sauce into quart bags and freeze.
2 comments:
What happens if I cut waaay back on the sugar? I have great trouble finding any commercial sauce that isn't too sweet for me. (Also, when my grandmother canned tomatoes, she added a pinch of sugar and a double pinch of salt to each quart.)
I had meant to try to make some such sauce this summer, but the pitiful state of my basil discouraged me. If I start with half a bushel of tomatoes I think I might have enough basil for this recipe, though.
Mary Anne in Kentucky
This is not a very sweet sauce, but surely you can add sugar to taste. I put in less than the recipe calls for because I am trying to cut way down on the sugar I consume in general. Let me know how it works out!
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