Our San Marzanos took a long time to mature this year, but when they did, it was on!  This recipe requires 20lb of tomatoes, and I was about 5lb shy so I threw in some sweet lemon boys I picked up at the store.  I thought they would go well together.  This is  a versatile, every day tomato sauce for pasta, pizza, or anything you like.

 

 

 

I am halving this for manageability…20lb of tomatoes can be hard to gather and keep:

• 10lb tomatoes (mixed is fine)
• 2 onions, finely chopped (I used food processor)
• 2 green bell peppers, finely chopped
• 4-6 cloves of garlic, crushed
• 1 6 0z can tomato paste
• 1.5 Tb oregano
• 1/2 Tb thyme
• 1/2 Tb rosemary
• 1.5 Tb basil
• salt
• pepper
• 1 Tb Worcestershire sauce
• Splash of balsamic vinegar
• Splash of red wine (if not canning)
• Lemon juice (if canning)

Boil tomatoes for about 1 minute each and then plunge in an ice bath to blanch and remove skins.  Once skins are removed, core tomatoes and slice in chunks – smaller the better, but if you have an immersion blender then don’t worry about it.

Bring tomatoes to a boil, and squish them as you go (again, if no blender).  Reduce heat and simmer for about 30 minutes.  Keep smushing.  🙂  If you DO have an immersion blender, now’s the time. 😉  Add onion, pepper, and garlic and continue to stir.  Let simmer for 30-45 minutes.

Add herbs (to taste, really, measurements are just my guess), salt, pepper, etc.  Do NOT add wine if canning – I have no idea how it would effect the acidity. But if freezing, go to town…my “splash” is about 1/4 cup and that seems just right for this amount of ‘maters.

If canning, get boiling water bath ready during all of this, and make sure your jars are sterilized.  Heat jar tops and rings in simmering water (don’t boil).  Add 1Tb of lemon juice to each pint jar (2Tb for quart jars) and then pour sauce into jars and process for 40 minutes.  You can also freeze this.