Here is the recipe:

• 10 ripe tomatoes
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 green bell pepper, chopped (I used a yellow pepper because I didn’t have  green)
• 2 carrots, chopped
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh basil
• 1/4 teaspoon Italian seasoning (I didn’t use this, but I did add parsley, onion powder and Old Bay – my secret ingredient to everything!)
• 1/4 cup Burgundy wine (I didn’t add this, either!)
• 1 bay leaf
• 2 stalks celery
• 2 tablespoons tomato paste (I did not add this as I wanted to use all fresh vegetables)

I tripled the recipe to use all of my tomatoes and I also added 1 zucchini (shredded), and 1 yellow squash (shredded).  I like that this recipe does not call for 40 lbs. of tomatoes like some canning recipes I have seen!

1. Bring a pot of water to a boil. Have ready a large bowl of iced water. Plunge whole tomatoes in boiling water until skin starts to peel, 1 minute. Remove with slotted spoon and place in ice bath. Let rest until cool enough to handle, then remove peel and squeeze out seeds. Chop 8 tomatoes and puree in blender or food processor. Chop remaining two tomatoes and set aside.
2. In a large pot or Dutch oven over medium heat, cook onion, bell pepper, carrot and garlic in oil and butter until onion starts to soften, 5 minutes. Pour in pureed tomatoes. Stir in chopped tomato, basil, Italian seasoning and wine. Place bay leaf and whole celery stalks in pot. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low, cover and simmer 2 hours. Stir in tomato paste and simmer an additional 2 hours. Discard bay leaf and celery and serve.

I blanched the tomatoes and pureed them last week, then froze them until I was ready to make the sauce.  After 2 hours of simmering it, I did NOT add the paste, but instead just took the cover off and simmered it for 3 more hours to reduce it.  It is still a little thinner than I like it, but I think I can thicken it up as I use it.  I used it for a baked rotini recipe last night and it was delicious and just the right consistency.

homemade tomato sauce

Mine sauce looks more orange than red because I used a yellow pepper instead of green and some of the tomatoes I used were yellow.  I think the zucchini and yellow squash washed out the color, too.  BUT the important thing is that I used what I had and it tasted good!  Which is good because I have SOOOOO much of it!