Enough tomatoes

I was seeing tomatoes in my sleep last night. Pails of tomatoes. Pots of tomatoes. Piles of tomatoes. I feel a bit guilty complaining about having too much of something when so many have so little, yet I am ready, more than ready for our tomatoes to be gone.

Today I am using all that are ripe or nearly ripe in a homemade pasta sauce for the freezer. I created this recipe to use lots of tomatoes quickly, for while my salsa and chili sauce require peeling the tomatoes, they go into this sauce simply washed and chopped with skins on.

FireFly's Homemade Tomato Sauce

8 quarts washed and rough chopped tomatoes
6 medium onions rough chopped
6 cloves garlic minced
4 stalks celery chopped
13 ounce can tomato paste
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup vinegar
1/8 cup salt
pepper
oregeno
basil

Saute onions, garic and celery in oil until limp and fragrant
Add chopped tomatoes and cook until soft
Puree (with immersion blender, blender or food processor)
Add remaining ingredients and simmer until thick
Check for taste and add more sugar, vinegar or seasonings as desired
(I leave this on the stove for hours when I have time)

I freeze this in 1 litre containers.

I will be serving this sauce on 4-cheese tortellini this evening while doing the "only 2 pails of tomatoes left to ripen" happy dance!

You crown the year with your bounty, and your carts overflow with abundance. Psalm 65:11 NIV