Make Your Own: Using Up The Garden---------Tomato-Sauce

Basic Tomato Sauce: This is an ideal way to use all of the extra tomatoes from the garden. If you make sauces in quantity when tomatoes are plentiful, the savings can be enormous.

You will need:

2 cloves garlic, sliced

2 medium onions, chopped

2 small bell peppers

2 tsp olive oil
4 pounds ripe tomatoes or two 20-ounce cans whole tomatoes
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground pepper
1/2 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp basil
1/2 tsp oregano
1/2 tsp parsley

In a large, heavy saucepan, brown the garlic, onions and green peppers in the olive oil, stirring frequently over low heat until the vegetables are soft and the onion is transparent. 

If using canned tomatoes, stir them into the oil mixture.

If using fresh tomatoes, put a separate pan of water on the stove to simmer while the vegetables are cooking.

Drop 3 or 4 tomatoes in at a time, and remove them after a minute or so to peel them over the pot containing the olive oil mixture, discard the peel and drop in the whole tomato.

Taste and add the spices. Simmer, covered for about an hour and adjust the seasonings.

This sauce can be stored, covered in the refrigerator for about 1 week, or frozen for 3 to 9 months. Glass jars are better to use for storage than plastic, which reacts to the tomatoes over  time. Yield: 32 ounces