Homemade Tomato Sauce

Fireman decided he wanted homemade tomato sauce for dinner. So here is what I came up with! It was very tasty!

Slice and dice green and red bell peppers.

Dice up a whole onion and mince some garlic while your at it. Dice a little carrot too...why not!

To keep it extra tasty. I used San Marzano tomatoes (Cento Brand). They are rumored to be the best tomatoes for making sauce. The first San Marzano tomatoes were grown at the base of Mount Vesuvius in volcanic soil. These tomatoes are full flavored and rich. San Marzano Tomato (image from cento.com)

                                      

Puree whole tomatoes with juice in blender.

Get your pot going and cook the veggies!

Add your tomatoes and seasoning to the pot. And cook, cook, cook!

Bring it to a boil and then let simmer for 45-60 minutes until thickened. Stir and continue to cook to desired thickness. The sauce will thicken after cooling a bit as well.

We enjoyed this with sauteed sliced bell peppers and onion and ground turkey cooked with italian seasoning over pasta. YUM!

And with Fresh Rosemary Rolls baked in a iron skillet. Those rolls are a whole other story...they are heavenly!!!

Homemade Tomato Sauce
Printable Recipe

2 tbsp olive oil
1/2 large green bell pepper, diced
1/2 large red bell pepper, diced
1 large yellow onion, diced
4 fresh cloves garlic, finely chopped
1/2 cup carrot, diced
2 (28 oz) cans of San Marzano Peeled Tomatoes
1(16 oz) can crushed tomatoes
1 (8 oz) can tomato sauce
2-3 bay leaves
2-3 tbsp italian seasoning, dried
2-4 tbsp sugar
1/4 cup white wine
salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

1) Add whole tomatoes with juice to blender and puree.
2) Heat olive oil in stockpot over medium. Add bell peppers and carrots. Cook 3-4 minutes.
3) Add onions to pot and cook until soft.
4) Add garlic and cook 2-3 minutes.
5) Add pureed tomatoes with their juices, crushed tomatoes, tomato sauce, bay leaf, wine, sugar and italian seasoning. Bring to a boil.
6) Season to taste with salt and pepper. Best to go light on the salt now and add more later if needed.
7) Reduce heat and simmer until slightly thicken, approx 45-60 minutes. Stir and taste. Add more salt if needed.
8) Simmer longer if needed to desired thickness.
9) Remove bay leaf before serving.

*** For extra chunky sauce, add a can (16 oz) of drained diced tomatoes with other tomatoes to pot in step #5.