What To Do with Forty Pounds Of Tomatoes - Grandma's Tomato Sauce & Roasted Tomato Sauce

Last week, Robert and I decided to tackle some tomatoes from his garden. He came over with a variety of ripe, just-picked heirloom and smaller tomatoes  We decided to make two different kinds of tomato sauce.  One of the recipes had been in my canning folder for years. It came from a 2006 Gourmet magazine article named "Grandma’s Tomato Sauce" and was edited by Edith Guerino.  I changed the recipe a bit by adding more sugar and a large carrot to offset the acidity. It turned into a wonderful creamy sauce.  For the second sauce recipe, I used Alton Brown’s recipe but changed several ingredients and how the sauce was roasted and completed.  The roasted sauce has a tart flavor but a rich tomato taste and is great to put over fish.  Robert brought his tomato device that separates the seeds and the skin from the fruit, a clever machine that saved us time and aggravation. I made a large faro salad with tomatoes and herbs using Giada De Laurentis' recipe.  For over a week, I kept the tomatoes on a cookie sheet in my cold downstairs office. One night I made a platter of tomato slices with mozzarella and another night we had lamb chops with Julia Child’s "Tomates A La Provençal."  Absolutely delicious!

A Wonderful Appetizer 

Here are some thick sliced tomatoes on a bed of lettuce, topped with fresh mozzarella, pesto, slow -baked tomatoes, and sprinkled with fresh basil, balsamic vinegar, olive oil, and salt and pepper.

 I have been slow roasting tomatoes for several years.  I use them like a marmalade on different appetizers. They taste great just by themselves and keep in the refrigerator for about a week .

These are the tomatoes I roasted for my tomato sauce. I saved  some to use  throughout the week.

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The perfect lunch—a fried egg with a roasted tomato and leftover faro salad.

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Robert is making sauce from his homegrown tomatoes.

Grandma's Tomato Sauce

This is a rich delicious sauce, perfect on pasta. I had it with eggplant ravioli, it was superb. I spooned every last drop from my plate. One could make a soup out of it. This sauce brings out the ripe flavorful taste of tomatoes.

This machine is terrific, separating the seeds and skin from the sauce

Adding the basil

The finished sauce

Print Recipe

Ingredients:
The recipe yields about 8 cups of sauce

Only use ripe tomatoes
1 TBS of salt
1 ½ TBS sugar
10 Ib tomatoes, cored and quartered
6 garlic cloves, peeled and lightly smashed
1 cup loosely packed fresh basil leaves
1 large carrot 
½ to 1 cup olive oil

Directions:

Toss washed and quartered tomatoes with salt and sugar in a large bowl, let them stand for 15 minutes.
Robert and I put the tomatoes through our  machine to separate the skin and seeds from the sauce. The recipe in Gourmet used a food processor after the sauce was cooked and cooled or you can use a food mill fitted with a fine disk. My Italian neighbor peels the tomatoes. 
Cook garlic in oil in a large pot over moderate heat, stirring occasionally, until golden, 3 to 5 minutes, then discard garlic. Add tomato mixture and basil, stirring to combine . Bring to a boil, covered, then reduce heat and simmer, uncovered, stirring more frequently toward end of cooking, until sauce is thickened and reduced , about 2  hours or longer, discard the carrot.  Cool the sauce and ladle into containers and freeze the next day. 

Guten Appetit!
Recipe  from Edith Guerino  
Gourmet Magazine 2006
By © Sunnycovechef

Roasted Tomato Sauce

​This is a tart, hearty sauce. We doubled the recipe and later in the week I made another batch. I kept some of the roasted tomatoes in a container and used them throughout the week. Yummy and easy to make.

Print Recipe

Ingredients:

This recipe makes about 4 cups of sauce

20 Tomatoes, halved and seeded

1/2 cup olive oil

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon pepper

1 cup finely diced onions

2 TBS minced garlic

2 TBS finally chopped oregano leaves

2 TBS chopped thyme leaves

2 TBS sage leaves

Direction:

Preheat oven to 325

Spray two cookie sheets with Pam. Place tomatoes cut side up on the sheets. Sprinkle with oil, salt and pepper, onion, garlic, and herbs. I put most of my sage leaves on the bottom of the sheet. Bake the tomatoes for about two hours. Cool the tomatoes and process through a food mill or food processor. We used our magic separator. Freeze or use.


Guten Appetit
 adapted from Alton Brown's tomato sauce
by©sunnycovechef.com