On a normal Summer Sunday in Kansas City you will find me and what seems like 10,000 other locals enjoying the weather and everything that the City Market has to offer. Today it was TOMATOES. All the tomatoes. I wish I could say that these were homegrown in a little grandmas side yard. But instead I think they are grocery store run off. Either way, they were cheap. We’re talking $0.50 a lb cheap. So for a whopping $4.00 I got 8 lbs.

What I was going to do with this bountiful tote of tomatoes wasn’t even a question. TOMATO SAUCE! Unless forced to purchase jarred sauce I will always make sure I have homemade sauce on hand. It freezes nicely, and if you’re patient enough to can it, I’m sure that would be lovely. Frankly, we eat way too much, way too fast to worry about canning. I have kept this in the freezer for a few months at a time and it’s just as good as if it just came out of the sauce pot.

As well as fresh fruits a vegetables our City Market has it’s fair share of spices. I use a spice blend that I buy there for this sauce. They call it “Pizza Seasoning” but in my house it’s used in place of Italian seasoning any chance we get. I realize that not everyone is lucky enough to have access to this magic spice blend, so below I have included what would work perfectly instead.

To begin, I had to walk around the market lugging 8 lbs of tomatoes…. because I wasn’t smart enough to wait until right before we left (eye roll) it’s ok. I survived and for the record I would have carried 25 lbs of tomatoes if I had to.

This sauce is super simple. It’s tomatoes, garlic, seasoning, tomato paste and a dash of sugar. The only hurtle with this recipe is the time that’s required to get the flavor of rich tomato sauce. The roma tomatoes I bought today weren’t very ripe, so I found myself cooking them a little longer than if I would have gotten on the vine ones from the supermarket.

This is going to be your new go to sauce. Once you have the real thing, jarred sauce just doesn’t do it for you any more. If 8 lbs of tomatoes seems like too much work, feel free to half this recipe. Remember too that it cooks down so what seems like a mote of tomatoes will actually end up being the equivalent of about 6 28 oz jars of sauce when finished.

Here’s what you’ll need:

8 lbs of fresh tomatoes- any kind you like- the riper the better

1 tbsp Italian Seasoning

1 tbsp Dried Basil

1 tsp garlic powder

1 tsp onion powder

1/2 tsp red pepper flakes

2- 4 oz cans of tomato paste

6 cloves of garlic roughly chopped.

28 oz can of crushed tomatoes

1 tbsp or less sugar- or to taste

STEP 1: Unload tomatoes, or have your 4 year old help.

STEP 2: Preheat oven to 425

STEP 3: Cut tomatoes in half and lay on a sheet try. This will require at least two trays, mine took three. If you do not have three sheet pans then you can do them in batches. It will just take a little extra time.

• 

• 

• 

STEP 4: drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle seasoning evenly all over tomatoes.

STEP 5: Roast in the oven all together or in batches for 45 minutes.

STEP 6: Scrape tomatoes off of pans and into large stock pot.

STEP 7: Add 6 cups of water with tomato paste and garlic.

• 

• 

• 

Now here is the hard part…. Let it simmer…Not boil. The idea is that you are continuing to reduce the tomatoes down slowly so the flavor becomes richer.

This go around I let mine simmer for about 2 hours and it reduced by about a fourth.

When it’s looking pretty thick and everything is breaking down to become one…. pull out the submersion blender. If you do not have one of these…( you should get one) you can carefully place the sauce in batches into a blender and pulse. Blend sauce until it is smooth but still has a but of texture… somewhere between chunky salsa and tomato soup.

• 

• 

• 

SALT TO TASTE! This WILL need salt. As a matter of fact I even throw in a little sugar if I think the acidity is too high. just about a tablespoon or less for this whole pot.

STEP 8: Add the can of crushed tomatoes.

There is something about adding canned tomatoes. I’ts almost like it gets in there and fills the flavor holes. I guess it makes it feel like it cooked all day, and not just 2 hours.

This sauce is good for everything that you would ever use a jarred sauce for. I do find that it’s a little bit thinner than jarred sauces. Which makes it perfect for pasta recipes where you finish cooking the pasta in the sauce. And don’t even get me started on how this is in lasagna! Life changing.

To keep this place in freezer bags. I do about 4-6 cup servings. Lay them flat in the freezer and enjoy within 3 months. Although making it 3 months without running out is highly unlikely.

ENJOY!