Tomato Sauce

There is nothing quite like a good summer time tomato. I have been hauling up loads from the garden, their perfumey vines still clinging to them and smelling of sunshine. Their vines create yellow spots all over my arms and shirt, and cause my arms to itch, but I’ll take the discoloration and scratchiness for the extraordinary flavor of a fresh organic tomato.

I love them sliced with generous amounts of flaky salt and pepper. I love them on sandwiches and in salads. I love them with hunks of mozzarella and leaves of basil.

I have added them to batches of ratatouille to stock our freezer. And, I have pushed our jarred tomato sauces and our canned tomatoes to the back of our pantry for now, and taken to making homemade tomato sauce.

The simplicity of this sauce relies on the freshness of the tomatoes. If the tomatoes are not ripe and juicy with real tomato flavor, then the canned tomatoes will serve you better. But, if you can get your hands on fresh organic tomatoes from either a farmers market or garden, you will be treated to a delightfully flavorful sauce.

Tomato Sauce

makes about 2 cups

Peel 2 pounds ripe tomatoes (I use a sharp knife and my hands but you can also peel tomatoes in a more civil way by plunging cored tomatoes into boiling water for about 30 seconds until their skins loosen, placing them into a ice water bath to stop the cooking, then drain and peel).

Seed and dice the peeled tomatoes by cutting tomatoes in half and coaxing out their seeds, try to save as much as the juice as you can.

Mince 5 large cloves of garlic.

Put a pot over medium heat and when heated, pour in 1/4 cup olive oil.

Add the garlic and when it starts to sizzle, add the tomatoes with their juices and a large pinch of kosher salt.

Cook at a simmer for 15 minutes. Sauce will be chunky. I you prefer a smoother sauce you can pass it through a food mill or run it through a blender.