Rosie Makes A Fresh Tomato Sauce.

We've had tomato sandwiches. We've had gremolata-stuffed tomatoes. We've had tomato slices on pizzas. We've had plain sliced tomatoes with freshly ground salt and pepper. We've had tomatoes layered in casseroles. We've had tomato pie. And I still have more maters than we can eat so I'm making tomato sauce to freeze. That way, in the dead of winter when it's freezing cold out and the wind is whupping about, I can have a little piece of summer.

First, the tomatoes must be peeled.

The easiest and quickest way to do this is to drop them in a pot of boiling water.

Let 'em boil for a few seconds until the skin starts to loosen.

I actually forgot about these tomatoes since I was doing about 10 things at once, but they're fine.

The skins can be easily pulled off, then I slice the tomatoes in half, stick my fingers in the pockets, and squeeze with the other hand to seed and juice the tomatoes. All you want is the meat.

Put the tomatoes in a pan over low heat.

I picked a couple of peppers from the garden and an onion from the pantry.

Quick chop ...

... and add to the tomatoes.

Keep at very low heat, stirring occasionally.

I like to add a little bit of sugar - maybe a tablespoon. It accentuates the natural sugars already there.

I picked some parsley and basil, chopped it ...

... and added to the pot. Keep over very low heat. I let this barely simmer for a few hours.

Taste test and add salt and pepper if needed. It helps to have a piece of fried goodness to taste test with. I believe this was a fried zucchini blossom.

Pour into quart freezer bags and freeze. Come January and February, I'll be pulling little bags of summer out of my freezer.