It won’t be long before you are harvesting fresh tomatoes from your garden if you’re planning to grow them this year. Nothing beats cooking with your own homegrown varieties over using canned tomatoes. Last year we had an abundant crop of heirloom, mushroom basket tomatoes – large, juicy, pink and sweet tasting. Amazing in salads, also great for pasta sauce. Enjoy the recipe below.

Ingredients:

Olive oil
Onion, medium 1
Garlic cloves, 8 – 12
White wine, 1/4 cup
Crushed tomatos, 2 x 28 oz. can + 3 – 5 chopped fresh tomatos
Basil 5 – 8 leaves
Sugar, 1/2 teaspoon
Herbs:  Thyme, Rosemary, Herbe de Provence or Italian Seasoning, Parsley, Bay Leaves, Oregano…
Salt & pepper

Peel the onion and the garlic. Chop the onion finely and crush the garlic cloves. Sauté the onion in a pan of hot olive oil for 2 minutes (do not color).  Add the crushed garlic and cook slowly for two more minutes (light gold color), then pour the white wine to “deglace.” Bring wine to a boil, add the tomatoes tomato, Italian seasoning, chopped basil, sugar, salt and pepper. Bring to a boil and let cook slowly while mixing sometime until the sauce thickens, 20 to 30 minutes. 

To Use Fresh Tomatos: 
Bring water to a boil in a pot. Wash the tomatoes, cut out the stem and slice a cross over the top. Put the tomatos in the boiling water for 15 seconds or until the skin starts to peel. Strain the tomatoes out of the boiling water and put them in cold water, then peel and chop the tomatoes. Proceed with the recipe as directed above, but cook for at least 45 minutes.