Basic Tomato Sauce

Ingredients:

• 4 lbs ripe tomatoes

• 1/2 cup chopped onion

• 3 garlic cloves, chopped

• 2 tbsp olive oil + more for drizzling

• 2 tsp lemon juice

• 1 tbsp tomato paste

• 1/4 tsp pepper flakes

• 1/2 tsp salt, or to taste

• 1/2 cup loosely packed basil leaves

• ice and water for cold bath

1. Bring a large pot of water to boil. Wash tomatoes, make a small X with a sharp knife on the bottom of the tomatoes. (This will help you to easily peel the skin off.)

2. Fill a large bowl with cold water and plenty of ice for the cold bath.

3. Place tomatoes in boiling water for 1 minute. Remove and immediately place in cold bath to stop the cooking.

4. Peel skin off tomatoes, cut in quarters and discard seeds. Chop tomatoes.

5. Heat oil in a large, deep, wide-bottom skillet. Saute onion on low heat for about 5 minutes, add garlic and pepper flakes and saute until fragrant.

6. Add chopped tomatoes to skillet, stir, bring to a boil. Reduce heat to a simmer and cook for about 20 minutes. With an immersion blender, puree tomatoes for a smoother sauce.

7. While sauce is cooking, wash and chop basil.

8. Add salt, lemon juice and chopped basil to tomatoes. Cook for an additional 5 to 10 minutes. Taste, and add more salt if necessary. Drizzle some olive oil and stir into sauce.

Yields: about 4 1/2 cups

Notes&Tips:

• Basic Tomato Sauce is such an easy recipe to make. Even if you're not using fresh tomatoes and using canned instead. I remember years ago watching Rachel Ray saying that no one should be buying expensive tomato sauce for pasta as they can easily make it right in their own kitchen.

• Over the years I have been utilizing fresh tomatoes from my garden to make tomato sauce that I can use throughout the cold Fall and Winter. This basic sauce can be used for pasta sauce and also in soups and stews.

• For this recipe, I have only used basil to flavor the sauce, but at other times, I have added a whole gamut of herbs. You can build your own sauce beginning with this very basic sauce.

• This sauce with keep in the fridge for 5 days. If you intend to have it longer, I suggest you freeze it or can it be canned. Follow directions for canning at National Center for Home Food Preservation here: https://nchfp.uga.edu/

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