what is your best recipe for spaghetti sauce using FRESH TOMATOES from the garden?

I have to make some sauce this weekend actually. I picked some tomatoes earlier this week but haven't used many. A couple have started to rot a bit. :( Anyway, I've never used a recipe. I taste as I go along. I just start by sauteing some garlic & onion in the pot I'm going to use for the sauce. (I do that first instead of adding it later because it brings out the flavor more. I'll sometimes use bell pepper too, but not often. I'm not a big fan of that flavor in pasta sauce unless it's goulash.) Then, skin the tomatoes, chop them, add to the pot & cook them down for a while, stirring every now & then. When there aren't many big solid chunks left, I use an immersion blender to break up any remaining chunks, then put it through a sieve pot type thing (can't think of what it's actually called right now for the life of me) to separate the seeds. Put the sauce back in the pot, add my other herbs, let it simmer a little more, then about 20 minutes or so before I take it off the stove, I add a little sugar. I freeze it too, because canning is too much of a hassle as far as making sure it's safe. When I make jam, I put it in canning jars, but then stick it in the freezer so I don't have to do the whole wax seal thing.

This sounds delicious! I usually roast my tomatoes outside in my Nesco Roaster.

Roasted Tomato Sauce

2 1/2 pounds roma tomatoes, halved lengthwise

4 cloves garlic, smashed

2 medium-sized sweet white onions, diced

1/3 cup olive oil

salt, pepper

1 tablespoon Herbs de Provence (or Italian herbs, or other herbs if you prefer. If you use thyme or rosemary or some othe "woody" herb, remove any stalks or stems before the blending step.)

Put the halved tomatoes cut side up in a sheet cake pan or other pan with high sides (at least 2"). If possible, make it just one layer.

Spread chopped onion on top of the tomatoes.

Drizzle olive oil all over contents of the pan. Use the pretty-good stuff. You don't need the best olive oil for this application.

Salt and pepper liberally, sprinkle herbs on top.

Put in a 400 F oven for 45 minutes. You can go longer if you want sweeter onions and more intense tomato taste.

Scoop and pour contents of the pan (there will be a lot of liquid in the bottom) into a big bowl where you can use my favorite kitchen gadget - the immersion blender.

Blend the sauce a lot or a little according to your tastes. If you have a food mill you can pass the sauce through it to remove the tomato skins. They don't bother me, but some people dislike their texture quite a bit.

If you don't have a food mill and hate the tomato skin texture, you can start the recipe differently by scoring the tomatoes while they're whole with an X at either end, and briefly blanching them until the skin begins to come away. Peel the tomatoes, halve them and continue the recipe.

This is way too much work for a casual sauce for me, so I just deal with the peels that, as I said, don't bother me.

Simmer the sauce in a large skillet and reduce over medium heat until you reach the desired thickness. Taste, and adjust seasonings. If the tomatoes you had were too tart, you can add a little sugar (but just a little, please) to balance the sauce. More herbs are also welcome at this step.

If serving on pasta, stir the cooked pasta into the sauce immediately after boiling the noodles so they can soak up the flavors.

The resulting sauce has a concentrated tomato flavor, sweetness from the onions and tomatoes, and just a touch of pungency from the garlic. Once you've got the basic recipe down, you can add red pepper flakes if you'd like it hotter, olives, parmesan, basil, roasted red peppers, just about anything.

How to make Pasta Sauce

Fresh Tomato Recipes

If you want to know how to make pasta sauce, this Tomato Sauce Recipe is a good base. It is one of those spaghetti sauce recipes to which you can add olives, capers or tuna and create an entirely new flavor.

In order to stew the tomatoes, simply place the whole tomatoes in a large pot and heat gently. You may like to add 2 - 3 tablespoons of water to prevent the tomatoes "catching" the pot. Place a lid on the pot and cook for about 15 - 20 minutes, until the tomatoes have released a lot of their juices, but they should not be completely pulpy. Many fresh tomato recipes would have you skin the tomatoes first, but I never bother and it doesn't seem to worry anyone.

# Easy

# Preparation time: 10 minutes

# Cooking time: 10 - 15 minutes (plus 15 minutes to stew the tomatoes

# Serves: 4

Ingredients:

# 1 medium onion, diced

# 1 clove garlic

# ½ celery stick, finely chopped

# 4 cups fresh tomatoes, stewed*

# ½ teaspoon salt

# 1 tablespoon sugar

# 1 teaspoon fresh oregano

# 1 cup loosely packed fresh parsley, chopped

# ¼ cup loosely packed fresh basil, chopped

# 2 tablespoons olive oil

Method:

1. Brown the onion in the olive oil until it is a golden color. Add the garlic and celery. Fry for a further 2 minutes until the celery softens slightly.

2. Add the tomatoes, salt, sugar and oregano. Add the parsley and basil.

3. Cook for 10 - 15 minutes until the sauce reduces and becomes thick.

You can use this tomato sauce recipe as is, or you can add any of the following:

# ½ cup black or green olives

# ¼ cup capers

# 1 small can tuna, drained

Adjust quantities as needed and spices to-taste.

8 pounds tomatoes, seeded and diced

1/4 cup chopped fresh basil

1 large onion, minced

3 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 cup olive oil

salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

1. In large saucepan, cook tomatoes and basil over medium-low heat until tomatoes are soft.

2. Meanwhile, in medium skillet, saute onion and garlic in olive oil until onions are translucent.

3. Add onion mixture to tomato mixture and add salt and pepper. Let simmer on low heat for 2 hours or until thick.

4. (Optional) If you prefer a less chunky sauce, take a stick-blender to it; or use a food processor or blender.

.

It's best if you just preserve the sauce plain without making it ready-to-eat, and then add whatever spices and/or meat or whatever you want after you thaw it out to cook with it. Just make sure you have a way of separating out all the seeds (which will make it bitter if left in), and most if not all of the skin before you freeze it.

(Imo storing it in canning jars is better than freezing, but it's a little more work since you have to seal and boil the closed jars, etc.)

boy is that a solid question! i'm sitting right here attempting to confirm what to do with all my ripening tomatoes too. My concern is that the skins are hard on a number of them so as that they are no longer as solid as they may well be. i'm taking some to artwork the following day to slice over a freshly baked pizza. I roasted some in a sluggish oven (approximately 2 hundred levels) when I sliced them and pro them with olive oil, salt, pepper and basil. They have been extremely solid, like solar-dried. i would be watching your question for another solutions.

1 take thirteen ripe tomatoes , ideally from the garden

2 put in a bucket of water

3 add three grains of sea salt and a mushroom

4 stir until quite tired

5 call an Italian friend

6 ask how they are

7 what they have been doing today

8 stand for 24 minutes

9 add spaghetti hoops

10 add more salt

11 add the lemon

12 take a way the number you first started with

13 serve on a bed of lettuce

14 lay on a bed of nails

15 voila !

tomatoes, extra virgin olive oil, garlic, salt (opt: basil). so simple and delicious