This is another post about preserving summer produce, this time with tomatoes. Tomatoes, like peaches, will be around for a few more weeks so now is the time to make tomato sauce. I place my tomato sauce in quart containers and freeze it. However you can certainly preserve the sauce in jars using a canner too.

I know a there are a lot of people from Berkeley Heights and the surrounding communities who are steeped in the Italian-American tradition of making tomato or red sauce. I also am aware that people have very strong opinions regarding what exactly goes in a classic red tomato sauce. I’ve tried making tomato sauce a number of times in a number of different ways but I really like this recipe for making tomato sauce from fresh tomatoes. It’s very basic and pretty easy, though a bit time consuming.

I skin the tomatoes, chop them, and slow cook them with garlic, olive oil, and a splash of white wine. I add a touch of red pepper flake but you can certainly omit that if you prefer. I add fresh basil at the very end. Otherwise I try to keep this base sauce very neutral so that I can adjust it later when I use it in other dishes. However, as is, this is a great red sauce to use for marinara or other pasta dishes. I used it while making pizza the other night and it made a wonderful base. In fact, I liked it so much I went and bought more tomatoes and made another large batch.

I used about 10 pound of tomatoes, which I purchased from Vito’s produce in Berkeley Heights. You can scale this way up or way down depending on your needs. Just realize that although ten pounds of tomatoes sounds like quite a bit, they cook down and reduce significantly. So, ten pounds of tomatoes yielded about 2 quarts of actual sauce. Also regardless of how much you make, it will still take a decent amount of time…so, you may as well make a bunch. It freezes very well!  Recipe follows after the jump…

Ingredients:

10 Lbs. New Jersey Tomatoes

4 Large Cloves Garlic, sliced thinly

¼ Cup Olive Oil

1 Cup White Wine

Dash Red Pepper Flakes

Kosher or Sea Salt to taste

1 Bunch Basil, torn roughly

Instructions:

• Bring very large pot of water to boil.  In the meantime, cut out vine end of tomatoes and make an ‘X’ with a knife on the opposite side trying to only cut the skin of the tomato, leaving as much of the flesh in tact.
• Make an ice bath by placing a large amount of ice and water in a large bowl.
• Once the water is boiling, place prepared tomatoes in water, a few at a time grouping them together by approximate size, for 30 seconds to 1 minute.  Check tomatoes and if the skin easily pulls away from the tomato, remove from water and place immediately in ice bath.  Once tomatoes are completely cool, remove from ice bath and set aside.
• Continue until all tomatoes are finished.
• Remove skins from the tomatoes, reserving the skins separately.
• Rough chop all tomatoes
• In a large pot, place thinly chopped garlic, olive oil, and red pepper flakes on low heat.  Simmer gently for several minutes, stirring occasionally.
• Add tomatoes and wine to the pot.  Add a tablespoon or so of salt and another dash of red pepper flakes.  Take reserved tomato skins and squeeze over the pot to release more tomato juice and pulp.  Discard skins once finished.
• Increase heat to medium and bring to boil.
• Once boiling, reduce heat to low and allow to simmer.  Cook, stirring occasionally until sauce is very well reduced and very thick (at least around an hour and up to two or three depending on how many tomatoes used).
• Once reduced to your liking, remove from heat.  Tear basil into sauce and stir.  Taste and adjust seasoning to taste. 

Serve immediately or freeze in air tight containers. Will last around six months in freezer.