Saucy Autumn Posts

If there's one thing of which I use a lot in my kitchen, it's tomato sauce. Whether it be made into a pasta sauce or put on pizza dough or as a dipping option for finger foods, I use a lot of the red sauce. The key for me is that I never buy it; instead, I have containers frozen with homemade sauce in them that are in the freezer awaitng their moment of glory. Some people roll their eyes at me when I tell them I spend the time making tomato sauce because it's quite easy to buy at most grocery stores, but there's something about making the sauce that fills the house with the smell of spices and tomatoes while it cooks. I also think it tastes infinitely better, but that's why I make the sauce out of the Roma tomatoes I grow in my garden every summer! È magnifico!

As I do every year, I bring the tomatoes inside once a good bunch has been picked from the plants, and the process begins. Being that it's September, the autumn haul of garden veggies will pick up soon, but I've been pretty happy with the returns on the tomatoes, rhubarb, peppers, and onions. The beets are looking strong, the potatoes should be a good size as well, and I'm hoping to squeeze a handful of cucumbers off that line after they got a late start to the summer growing season. In the end, I should be set up well for winter once again!

Without further adieu, I present to you Marcella Hazan's recipe from the New York Times as her amazing way to make tomato sauce has just four simple ingredients, yet it tastes so good!

Ingredients

• 2 cups of tomatoes with juice, peeled
• 5 tablespoons of butter
• 1 onion, cut in half and peeled
• salt to taste

Directions

1. Combine the tomatoes, their juices, the butter, and the onion halves in a saucepan. Add a pinch or two of salt. DON'T OVER-SALT!
2. Place over medium heat and bring to a simmer. Cook, uncovered, for about 45 minutes. Stir occasionally, mashing any large pieces of tomato with a spoon. Add salt as needed.
3. In Marcella's recipe, she recommends discarding the onion, but I like it in there. Wait until the onion becomes translucent and, as above, use a spoon to cut the onion pieces into smaller chunks. When all is said and done, this recipe makes enough sauce for a pound of pasta.

In today's day and age, I use an immersion blender to get rid of any larger chunks, but the key to this sauce is allowing it to simmer off the water content to make a nice, thick tomato sauce. Once cooled, it can be transferred to a container and frozen, or stored in the refrigerator for up to a week. If it separates, just heat it a little and give it a stir, but anything requiring a tomato-based sauce will have an exquisite base upon which you can build.

That's what I've spent my day doing, so make good use of those tomatoes before the temperatures start cooling off! I'm hoping for one more round of tomatoes for another batch of sauce, but we'll see what the garden harvest looks like in the coming weeks. For now, I have enough sauce for a few delicious meals once again!

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!