Wave 358 of the Tomato Bonanza

The tomatoes this year are as close to a bumper crop as my wee little garden can ever claim to have had. We’ve had an oddball summer here in Washington State; lots of record-breaking hot days and reasonably high humidity. This seems to be the magic combination where tomatoes are concerned, and so, to date, we’ve harvested over 30 pounds of ‘maters from our single 4x8’ raised bed – and they’re still coming.

As you can imagine, I’ve had to employ a little creativity in using all of these beautiful tomatoes. So far, I’ve made pasta sauce, fresh salsa, pizza sauce, dehydrator “sundried” tomatoes and about a million salads. For those of you also lucky enough to have a tomato surplus this year, I offer the first of what is likely to be a tidal wave of tomato-gobbling recipes.


Chelle’s Pizza Sauce
(Adapted from a recipe at MyKitchenGarden.)

*4-5 lbs blanched, peeled, cored & seeded cooking tomatoes
*4 cloves of garlic, pressed or minced (feel free to use more if you like it zesty)
*Assorted herbs to taste – I used a few pinches of each of fresh rosemary, oregano, basil and lemon thyme, all chopped.
*Salt & Pepper
*Splash of red wine
*Splash of good balsamic vinegar
*One or two tablespoons of organic sugar
*Tablespoon of olive oil

Roughly chop the tomatoes and stew them and all of the remaining ingredients in a pot over medium heat, stirring occasionally for at least an hour, or until the flavors begin to blend and the tomatoes start to break down. If you like your sauce on the chunky side, then it is done! If you prefer a more uniform consistency, use either an immersion blender
or standard blender to puree your sauce to your liking. This recipe yields about 6 cups of sauce, about 3 or 4 pizzas worth. ;)