Homemade Spaghetti Sauce - Mmmm Yeah, yeah

Now this one comes to you from some point last fall when the bossman decided he has too many tomatoes and needed to share. The number of tomatoes he was getting from his plants was seriously crazy people.  Every single meal for almost two weeks I think he tomatoes in some form.

With the number he gave me and the realization that there is no way I could eat that many before they went bad, I decided to attempt some homemade spaghetti sauce.  Click here for the recipe inspiration.  Now I say inspiration because I didn't quite follow, ok pay attention to the directions.

 First was getting the skins off of the tomatoes.  Put a small cut into them and then boil them gentle for a bit.

 

Then into the colander they go to get "cool"

 

Then you just peel the skins right off.  It was surprisingly easy even though they were kind of mushy feeling.

 

After that make friends with your food processor and blend those things up.  My food processor happens to be just a toddler, so we had to go slowly.

 

Then you want to put some olive oil in a pan and sauté 4 cloves of garlic.

 

 After you heat the garlic for one to two minutes, then add your wonderful tomato puree, some black pepper (1 tsp), and 3Tbsp basil.  Don't over do that basil.  That would be some strong stuff. Stirring often, bring to a low boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer for 2-3 hours stirring often. For the first half of the simmer time, do so with the pot uncovered, then cover.

Since you may have gotten the idea that I overdid the basil, I happened to offset this by adding some store bought spaghetti sauce to it.  Not only did this offset the basil, but it also gave it a better consistency for me.   A little more creamy which means I could pass it off to the tomato hating hubbie a little easier too.

 

There you have my little escapade in homemade spaghetti sauce.   Would I do it again...only if I got a whole bunch of tomatoes.  Because let's be honest, that shit comes in a jar and you can get it on sale for like $2.  It was fun to say the least.

 

 

Here is the recipe from the website:
Ingredients
 3-4 cans of Crushed Tomatoes (either regular or with basil, oregano and garlic) 28 oz. sized cans OR 12-15 fresh tomatoes (peeled, chopped and blended in a food processor)
4 cloves of garlic
A bunch of dried basil (probably 3-5 Tbsp)
A bunch of black pepper ( probably 1 - 2 tsp)
1 TBSP of Sugar (optional)
2 TSBP olive oil
⅓ cup of grated Parmesan or Romano Cheese Minced Green Peppers (optional)

    Instructions Heat the olive oil in a 5+ qt. pot over medium heat, and add the chopped or pressed garlic. Heat for one to two minutes, making sure not to burn the garlic, then add all the tomatoes, black pepper, basil and sugar. Stirring often, bring to a low boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer for 2-3 hours stirring often. For the first half of the simmer time, do so with the pot uncovered, then cover. Add the cheese, stir in and simmer for an additional 5 minutes or so. This will make the equivalent to 4-5 jars of sauce, and the cost is probably about half (and it tastes way better).