GardenFresh Tomato Sauce!

My neighbour has gifted me with several pounds of fresh tomatoes from her garden, so I'm going to make a boatload of fresh tomato sauce! Woot! Plus! It was National Vegetarian Day! Done!

You will need:

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped fine
Eleventy thousand garlic cloves, or at least 2. Okay, 3.
2 1/2 pounds fresh tomatoes (5 large or a buncha small)
2 bay leaves
Dried basil, oregano, chili flakes, pepper and parsley
2 sprigs fresh thyme
Salt

For equipment, you will also need a large pot of boiling water (for blanching the tomatoes), a large bowl of ice water and a Spider. The strain-y type, not the 8-legged type THAT JUST WON'T LEAVE ME ALONE

First, chop your onions and mince your eleventy thousand cloves of garlic, set aside. Start heating your giant pot of water and fill up your large bowl with ice water.

Now the tomatoes! Cut a small x across the bottom of each tomato like zo:

Then do them all! I'm so 'cited

Dump them into the giant pot of boiling water in small batches

Let them blanch for about 30 seconds, just until you see the cut edges curling up. Use your spider to remove and dump into ice water.

This Spider is a helper! Not a creeper. Now it's super easy to peel the tomatoes

Now here is a philosophical dilemma: every single recipe you read is going to tell you to seed your tomatoes before chopping them. Every single recipe but this one. I read that all the glutamates (sounds like butt-related stuff, but(heh heh) not)(that's right, I double parenthesesed IN THE MIDDLE OF A RECIPE) are stored around the seeds and I don't wanna lose those. So. I leave them in and my family deals. If you DID want to ignore this whole paragraph and make conventionally attractive sauce, this is how you seed a tomato: cut across the middle and use a small spoon to scoop them out. *side eye*

Roughly chop up the maters, and start heating the tablespoon of oil in a large Dutch oven (Mediterranean Blue optional)

and throw in onions.

Cook for 2 or 3 minutes, until almost softened, then add in the garlic, stirring for about a minute until you can smell it (I can smell it! 10 points for the movie). Add in the tomatoes

Bay leaves, oregano, basil, red chili flakes, parsley and pepper.

Stir while bringing to a gentle boil

Cover and turn the heat down, so the tomatoes can bathe in their own steamy juices for 20 minutes. Uncover and add in the thyme leaves and a bit of salt, let simmer uncovered for another 5.

Enjoy!

Cloooooosseeee

Closssserrrrrrrr!!

Too close too close. Safe distance