Dawn’s Tomato Sauce Recipe

Ahh tomato season.  The time of year when the little Addicted to Recipes garden is producing tomatoes like crazy.  Today was a cooler day with some storms blowing through, which meant a perfect day for a big pot of spaghetti.  And since we have that abundance of tomatoes, I figured I should make some tomato sauce for our spaghetti.  Here is what I did:

Dawn’s Tomato Sauce

4 cups cherry tomatoes (4 varieties) – peeled (see instructions below about peeling tomatoes)

Salt & pepper (to taste)

15 basil leaves, chopped

4 cloves garlic, minced

2 teaspoons Italian seasoning

Dash red pepper flakes

1/2 green pepper, diced

1/3 orange pepper, diced

1/3 yellow pepper, diced

1/2 onion, diced

1 green onion, diced

Handful fresh mushrooms, diced

1 lb ground beef, browned

Start by bringing a large pot of salted water to a boil.  Put the tomatoes in the boiling water for 1 minute, then drain and place the tomatoes in ice cold water.  This will allow you to easily peel the skin from the tomatoes (and yes I did that with 4 cups of cherry tomatoes, it really didn’t take much time to pull the skins off).  Once the tomatoes are peeled, place them in a large saucepan, salt and pepper the tomatoes, and turn the pan on medium.

Meanwhile, brown your ground beef.  I left mine unseasoned as I added it to the tomato sauce a little later on.

While the tomatoes are cooking, add the basil, garlic, and Italian seasoning to the pan.  Mix well.  Add in the vegetables.  Taste and add any salt and pepper as needed.  Reduce heat and simmer for 40 – 50 minutes.  When the beef has browned, add it to the tomato sauce.

Prepare your favourite pasta (we went for traditional spaghetti), and serve.

VERDICT:

My hubby’s first words were that the sauce tasted just so fresh.  He could tell there were no glass jars or cans involved.  It was so good, and nice to know exactly each ingredient that went into the sauce.  Our kids devoured their meals too.  Yay!

Be sure to stop by Addicted to Recipes to check out other great recipes containing tomatoes, such as:

 

Wife and Mom to two boys, Dawn is a blogger who writes about recipes old and new, some that she has been collecting since she was a child. There are always cookbooks lying out around her house as she is constantly flipping through the books as well as her massive binder of collected recipes looking for inspiration. She truly is “Addicted to Recipes!”. Outside of the home, Dawn works full-time for the fundraising department of a post-secondary institution, and when she can find a little extra time, she loves to scrapbook, read and get in the occasional run.