In August and September, when the tomatoes have ripened, make a batch of fresh tomato sauce.
Look for cracked and lightly bruised tomatoes on the market, which are more suitable and are often sold at a discount. The flesh of the tomato should be thick, sweet and blood red.
If you decide to make tomato sauce outside of the tomato season, you will have to settle for canned tomatoes or worse quality fresh tomatoes.
The simplest tomato sauce consists only of sliced, boiled and stewed tomatoes. Of course, it can be seasoned with salt or other herbs or spices. The use of carrots in the sauce adds sweetness and reduces acidity.
To use fresh tomatoes instead of canned in tomato sauce, remove the edges and cut them into quarters. Then spread them with olive oil, salt and black pepper and bake them at 200°C for 30-35 minutes (be careful not to burn them), then blend the mixture.
Another option is to cut the tomatoes in half horizontally. Press the cut half of the tomato to the wide openings of a kitchen grater and grate the tomato core into a bowl. Discard the skins. You need to fill a total of about 4 cups.
Put the tomato puree in a low wide pot over high heat. Add salt, olive oil, garlic, basil and bay leaf. Leave the mixture to boil, then reduce the heat, until it starts to simmer.
The sauce should be reduced by almost half, by stirring occasionally for 10 to 15 minutes, to get about 2 1/2 cups of medium-thick sauce.
Taste and adjust the salt of the homemade tomato sauce, if necessary. You can store it up to 5 days in the refrigerator or you can freeze it.
See also how to make tomato sauce for pasta and tomato sauce for pizza.
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