Homemade Pasta Sauce

From our farm share, we got the mother lode of tomatoes this week, over 65 pounds of them. Hence, why I came up with the following recipe for pasta sauce.


15 cloves of garlic, sliced in half
olive oil
handful of fresh basil
4 pinches of oregano
2 teaspoons crushed red pepper
4 pounds of fresh tomatoes
1 medium yellow onion, chopped


In a large pot put about 1/8 inch of olive oil and sauté the garlic on low heat until it is golden (don't let it brown, it gets bitter like your mother-in-law). Here is where you get a choice in the process, you can blanch the tomatoes and then skin them or you can toss them in with the skin. I am not afraid of tomato skins so I eliminate this step.

Cut the tomatoes in half or quarters and place them in the pot with the garlic. Add in the herbs and red pepper. Cook on low. With an immersion blender, start to puree the sauce a bit. I like to leave it a bit chunky but that is your choice (I give so many options, how refreshing!).
Once you get it to your preferred texture, add in the onion.
Let it simmer for 2 - 3 hours until it is the right viscosity and the tomato flavor is as strong as you like it (the time will depend upon how much water your tomatoes had in them). Salt and pepper to taste.
It is now ready to be devoured or you can freeze or can it depending upon storage issues at your house..
Alternatively, you can grill/roast all of some of the tomatoes first and then proceed as above.