Tuesday, August 11, 2009

Tasty Tuesday: Homemade Spaghetti Sauce and an Invite

Who's hungry? It's Tasty Tuesday over at Balancing Beauty and Bedlam. Please visit Jen today to find more delicious meal ideas!


It's a bumper crop!

The three tiny tomato plants I purchased back at the end of May have exploded with tomatoes! The large mixing bowl you see in the photo is from just a few days worth of harvests. There are probably 20 to 30 Roma tomatoes and 1 very round beefeater tomato (I hate that name!) in there.

What to do, what to do?

Spaghetti sauce was the first thing that came to mind, and I found a recipe on allrecipes.com that had plenty of good reviews. You don't have to have a garden to make your own spaghetti sauce. Visit your local farmer's market, or even the produce aisle at your favorite grocery store. Making it at home is bound to be healthier than popping open a can of Prego, which is loaded with sugar.

Homemade Tomato Sauce
from allrecipes.com

Ingredients:
10 ripe tomatoes
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons butter
1 onion, chopped
1 green bell pepper, chopped
2 carrots, chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 cup chopped fresh basil
1/4 teaspoon Italian seasoning
1/4 cup Burgundy wine
1 bay leaf
2 stalks celery
2 tablespoons tomato paste

Directions:
1. Bring a pot of water to a boil. Have ready a large bowl of iced water. Plunge whole tomatoes in boiling water until skin starts to peel, 1 minute. Remove with slotted spoon and place in ice bath. Let rest until cool enough to handle, then remove peel and squeeze out seeds. Chop 8 tomatoes and puree in blender or food processor. Chop remaining two tomatoes and set aside.
2. In a large pot or Dutch oven over medium heat, cook onion, bell pepper, carrot and garlic in oil and butter until onion starts to soften, 5 minutes. Pour in pureed tomatoes. Stir in chopped tomato, basil, Italian seasoning and wine. Place bay leaf and whole celery stalks in pot. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low, cover and simmer 2 hours. Stir in tomato paste and simmer an additional 2 hours. Discard bay leaf and celery and serve.

Note: I also love to use Rosemary. A few of the users on allrecipes.com suggested letting it simmer uncovered for 2 hours to thicken it up. I'd also add ground beef because my husband likes it that way. You can freeze the extra servings, or make extra to freeze for later!
{Bon Appetit!}
On another note:




(Click on the photo above for details about the party!)

I'll post the Decorating Dilemmas Party tonight (Tuesday) around 10 pm (ET) and we can party all day on Wednesday! I've never used McLinky or Mr. Linky before, but we'll give it a shot. Please be sure to grab my button on the sidebar.

So take a quick stroll through your home and I bet you can find one little (or big) project you'd love to have some feedback on. Even if it's just me, Xazmin, and my sister, I know we'll have a blast!

~Don't forget that there is a Giveaway for participants!~ Check the link out to see what you might score just by asking some bloggy friends for some help.

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13 comments:

  1. You had me at "Homemade Spaghetti Sauce..." ;) I was just telling my husband that I needed to get a recipe for homemade sauce!! I was just going to search the web; but always love tried and true recipes. Thank you!

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  2. I have a lot of Roma tomatoes as well. I made homemade salsa, but that only uses about 12 of them. I wasn't sure about Romas in spaghetti sauce but I think I will try it. Thanks for posting the recipe.

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  3. I make homemade spaghetti sauce, but have never tried making it from fresh tomatoes! I'll definitely dice some into the chili I'm making tonight, though.

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  4. Your tomatoes are beautiful! The recipe sounds fantastic, I always add a bit of red wine to my tomato sauce too.

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  5. I need to send the people who have graduated from my easy spaghetti over here to learn how to make their own sauce!

    Christi

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  6. This sounds delicious...I will have to try this! Amanda, thank you for always being so sweet and visiting me often. I am sorry to have read someone would say something so mean to you...you are such a beautiful person inside and out! I have struggled with losing weight off and on since my children were born and i know how touchy that subject is. Why would someone want to hurt you, unless they felt inferior to you. Maybe they don't think they can measure up to you. Keep being the great person you are and know many friends love you!!

    Hugs to you sweet friend,
    ~Victoria~

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  7. Thanks for stopping by to comment! My Decorating Dilemmas post is ready to go. :)

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  8. Now that looks yum! I will try and remember to come back tonight for your next post you spoke of. My kids start back school in the morning so we may be a bit busy round these parts... As far as the electric in the cottage...a work in progress my dear~

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  9. Yum! What a great idea for all those tomatoes in the garden!

    Jane

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  10. It sounds great, but it also sounds like it's too much trouble. I'm hopeless in the kitchen. That's why I married a cook.

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  11. What a great harvest of tomatoes! I have yet to try homemade spaghetti sauce, but this sounds really good. Maybe I'll take the plunge!!

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  12. I love turning my backyard tomatoes into bruchetta. :)

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  13. you need to make some pico de gallo!! and some black bean, corn and tomato salso. yum!!!!!!!!

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