Being gone a week during the height of the tomato ripening maybe wasn’t the thing to do but a guy can’t stay home all the time when there’s fishing to be done. I picked the ripest of the lot this morning and had a 5 gallon pail full plus a couple of ice cream pails full. Been a hectic house in the kitchen but I finally got things down to one 10 quart kettle of sauce that needs just a hair of stove time to thicken some more before being jarred up.
I don’t how ya’ll do your sauce but I blanch and crush the tomatoes into large pots trying to keep the volume about the same. Then I add roughly chopped onions, some sugar and my own blend of dried home grown herbs [marjoram, basil, and oregano in equal amounts]. This gets simmered until the onions and tomatoes are thoroughly soft. I let this brew cool a bit so I can handle it, then I run batches of it thru a food processor and dump the puree in a fine sieve hung over a large deep bowl and press the contents thru the mesh. The seeds and any vagrant pieces of skin stay behind in the sieve. When I get thru with clearing the puree I put it all in a really large pot, this 10 quart just makes the grade, cover with a screen cover and simmer another couple hours on a fairly low heat. If needed I’ll mix some corn starch and cold water together to add if the puree is looking watery. The puree goes into quart jars and the lids sealed. On this batch I’ll plan on 8 quarts in jars and any left will go right on some cooked pasta tomorrow.
