Things have been super busy in the kitchen and outside in the garden! The season is changing and I just pulled up my dying tomatoes, bolting cilantro and a few other things. Somedays the garden is so plentiful that I have to hustle in order to make use of the crop before it spoils.
I love recipes that give me just a little work here and a little work there. Never too much to do at one time. It makes me feel like I can accomplish more if I can get my hands on a little of everything rather than a lot of one thing.
Here is a perfect example. This is a ‘set it, and forget it’ way to make homemade tomato sauce. It takes me 10 minutes to prep and then I just walk away. I have made a batch every week this month.
You will need:
- Crock-pot
- heaping crock-pot-full of ripe tomatoes
- seasoning (see below)
To make:
Clean, core and quarter the tomatoes. Cover and simmer the tomatoes on a low setting overnight, stir occasionally. In the morning, puree the sauce using a stick blender. Season*
Turn the crock pot to high and cook down to desired consistency, stir regularly. Optionally, leave on ‘low’ setting and let simmer another 4-8 hours.
Seriously! It is that easy! I make this all the time adding some fresh or dried herbs such as oregano and thyme. By sticking to oregano, thyme, and garlic this sauce is a base for everything. I can now add peppers and chili powder and head southwest or I can add basil, olives, ground meat, parmesan, wine…. You name it!
*If this sauce is something you will be canning, then keep it simple and stick to dried herbs and fresh garlic.
When canning, add 2Tb of lemon juice to each hot quart jar (1T per pint) before filling and process for 45 minutes in a boiling water canner.
Nancy Warner 
I have just recently started making sauce similarly in my crock pot, I’ve never made sauce before (because I don’t eat tomatoes, although I like sauce!). But, I don’t can. I’m just freezing it. I don’t know why I never did it sooner!
truely! it is so easy! and soooo much better than wasting over or underipe tomatoes.