HOMEMADE TOMATO SAUCE

Making your homemade tomato sauce is remarkably easy, very satisfying and hard to go wrong with. Actually, in most cases, we don't stick to one particular recipe. The way we make it generally depends on how we feel like or what herbs we have in the garden at the time.

Here is the instructions for our basic homemade tomato sauce for you.

Firstly, wash your tomatoes. We don't always peel off the skin. However, if you prefer yours to be skinless, then boil whole tomatoes only for a minute or so and then put them in ice or iced water. This procedure will be quite helpful in skinning your tomatoes.

Some people may prefer to take the seeds and the excessive water off tomatoes but I definitely don't enjoy the idea of taking all that goodness out of it. I prefer mine to include it all. If you want your sauce to be seedless, then cut the tomatoes at this stage and scrape out the seeds and the water. Draining the water will help you in making a thick sauce (but even this doesn't convince me to do so). You may also try to use the drained off tomato juice for your other meals so that you do not waste it.

Now, all you need to do is to boil your tomatoes and simmer it as long as you like. If you want it to be thicker, then simmer it longer so that more water evaporates. If you prefer it runny, then you don't have to cook it as much. Also at this stage, add some herbs to this mixture. We often use 'Italian herbs' or a mixture of basil, rosemary, a small amount of sage and some thyme. We grow a few types of herbs in our garden and therefore we have the luxury of using them fresh. However, if you don't have fresh herbs, then just use dried herbs.

We mostly use our tomato sauce fresh. However, it is possible to make a big batch and store it for later use. The best way to store them is that after your sauce is cooked, put them in sterilised glass jars. To prepare the jars, you need to wash your jars and their lids thoroughly. Then boil them for some time (approximately 10 minutes is appropriate) (if you have a water bath canner, you can use it). After removing the jars from the hot water, they are ready to be filled in with your delicious homemade tomato sauce. Allow them to cool down at room temperature before placing them in your refrigerator.

Enjoy!