9er Domestic: Tomato, Tomahto (Parte Terzo)

    I just couldn't take any more tomatoes. So out of the mountain of tomatoes that I still had left, I made Pizza Sauce. Thank Heaven's. They're all gone... Now on to the mango's.....lol. Oh my, sigh.
    When I got the idea for the pizza sauce, I was trying to find a way to use the tomato's so that they wouldn't be the main focus on the plate. I just couldn't eat another tomato. So the first thought I had was a sauce of some sort. I also knew if I made a sauce, by the end of the day all my tomatoes would be gone, and I would be able to move on to something new. Tomato sauce for pasta would have been my first thought, had there not been about 15 jars already in my pantry. This past fall I spent about a month canning anything and everything I could get my hands on. Pasta sauce was one of the things I made an abundance of. But in any case, pizza sauce it was.
    When I make a tomato based sauce, the first thing I like to do is remove the skins. This is done the same way you would skin a peach, apricot, or plum. Just take a pearing knife and score the top and the bottom of the fruit by making a small "X" through the skin. Once done, drop all of the fruit into a pot of boiling water, and let boil for 30-40 seconds. No longer. You don't want to cook them, just loosen the skin.

After the time has passed, immediately remove the fruit from the water and drop them all directly into an ice bath. This will shock them, and instantly stop the cooking. You will notice the skins begin to peel away from the flesh. Just let them sit for a minute or two, and then begin removing them.

Arrivederci

Gently slice through the skin on both
the top and the bottom.

Peel off the skins, cut into quarters
and place in an oven proof pan

    Once all the skins have been removed, cut the tomatoes into quarters and place into an oven proof pan. Pour in enough olive oil to cover all the tomato pieces and create a shine. Season with salt and pepper. Cover the baking dish with aluminum foil and place in an oven that has been preheated to 475*. You need the temperature to be high to "roast" the tomatoes. After the first half hour has passed, add the seasonings. Depending on your taste, and what you have on hand this will change. I used red onion, basil and garlic. These flavors always go well together.
    Give everything a stir to combine, and continue roasting for another 25-30 minutes. Once finished, let cool slightly, and transfer to a food processor to puree. And there it is. Homemade Pizza Sauce. And I didn't have to waste anything. Can't wait to use this.
    Because of the olive oil in this recipe, you cannot safely process this via water bath. If you have a pressure canner (which I am not fortunate to have), that will work nicely. But if not, and you have no need for this right away, freeze it in an air tight container.