Basic Tomato Sauce

This week from Newleaf Natural Grocery I received:

Artochokes - 4!
Garlic
Swiss chard
Roma Tomatoes - 12!
Red leaf lettuce
Napa cabbage
Jalapeno pepper
Star crimson pears
Plums
Local nectarines
Bananas

I started by steaming 1 of my artichokes for a snack. Just boil water and add the artichoke - simmer for about 45 minutes until tender. I just ate it plain but it's great with lemon or butter.

Then, I needed to figure out what to do with my 12 tomatoes. It became obvious that I was to make a sauce. Here's the recipe!

Basic Tomato Sauce Recipe

Ingredients

• 2 Tbsp olive oil
• 1/2 medium onion, finely chopped
• 1 small carrot or 1/2 large carrot, finely chopped
• 1 small stalk of celery, including the green tops, finely chopped
• 2 Tbsp chopped fresh parsley
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1/2 teaspoon dried basil or 2 Tbsp chopped fresh basil
• 1 28 oz. can whole tomatoes, including the juice, or 1 3/4 pound of fresh tomatoes, peeled (I didn't peel my tomatoes), seeded, and chopped
• 1 teaspoon tomato paste
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Method

1 Heat olive oil in a large wide skillet on medium heat. Add the chopped onion, carrot, celery and parsley. Stir to coat. Reduce the heat to low, cover the skillet and cook for 15 to 20 minutes, stirring occasionally until the vegetables are softened and cooked through.

2 Remove cover and add the minced garlic. Increase the heat to medium high. Cook for garlic for 30 seconds. Add the tomatoes, including the juice and shredding them with your fingers if you are using canned whole tomatoes. Add the tomato paste and the basil. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Bring to a low simmer, reduce the heat to low and cook, uncovered until thickened, about 15 minutes. If you want you can push the sauce through a food mill, or blend it with an immersion blender, to give it a smooth consistency.
Makes 2 1/2 cups of sauce.