[Elaine G]

Please can anyone help me out with a pasta sauce recipe (like you buy in jars!) that uses fresh tomatoes.
All the ones I have found so far seem to use tinned tomatoes and I would like to use up whats left in the greenhouse.
Thanks

Elaine

[mumofstig]

To make a basic sauce
Fry some sliced onions gently in oil (I prefer olive oil)
Drop tomatoes into a saucepan of hot water and bring to boil, the skins will split, pour off water and slide the tom skins off. Roughly chop the toms and add them to the onions with a crushed clove of garlic. You may have to add a very small amount of water to stop the sauce catching at the bottom..it depends how juicy your toms are.
Simmer till the toms are soft, add salt/pepper to taste, it can take quite a lot of salt to balance the sweetness and acidity of the toms.
If it's still too runny, either simmer for longer, or add a little tomato puree to thicken it.
You can then add torn basil/oregano or a little chilli powder..or even both 
If you have no fresh basil/oregano add the dried herb while cooking the toms.

Italians tend to add a drop more olive oil at the end as well

Buon appetito!

[sunshineband]

Does this sauce bottle OK, MoS?

[mumofstig]

yes................but I do process the jars in boiling water to make them safe for long term storage.

You can add red peppers, courgettes, aubergines..whatever veg you fancy....as long as you process them, they'll keep well 

[sunshineband]

Thank you 

I have had to have a serious talk with Mr Sunny about space for storage/means of staorage and have agreed not to buy another freezer next year if I can use more space in the garage for bottles, which he thought sounded good.

Little does he realise it will me much more space MMMWWAAAHHHHAAAAA!!
and pasta sauce was top of his list 

[mumofstig]

But how much pasta can you actually eat, between now and next July when the next toms are hopefully ready? ..not really a garage full, surely 



let me think..........there's 12 jars of tom n courgette, 8 jars tom n onion, a dozen jars of passata and I don't really know how many packs of skinned toms in the freezer (which would have been bottled id i'd had a decent pea & bean harvest)............so not that many really

Best start saving jars now 
The Lloyd Grossman ones are the ones I prefer, a perfect size for my maslin pan

[sunshineband]

Great minds think alike with thso Loyd Grosman jars 

I have told Mr Sunny he is only allowed to buy sauce in these jars, and only of course until we have our own sauces next year. Now he has worked out that we can have spicy sauce not just plain he is very keen indeed.

I must just surreptitously clear some space on the shelves for empty jars, as then there will be enough for the full up ones when I come to need it 

Jam, chutney etc is already in my preserves cupboard anyway, so that's OK