Haywood Cooking Blog: Easy Homegrown Homemade Tomato Sauce

Let me preface this by saying that I'm not really a fan of tomato sauce. I'm much more apt to just drizzle a bowl of pasta with some olive oil, salt, pepper, and a sprinkle of freshly grated Parmesan cheese. But when tomato season arrives, and we have lush, green basil growing, along with fragrant thyme, plus onions and garlic recently harvested from our own garden, I can't help but cook up a batch of this easy tomato sauce.
Requiring just about 30 minutes of your time, the sauce will be ready in about the same time it takes you to boil a pot of water and cook your pasta. Feeling ambitious? Why not make your own pasta too, using eggs fresh from your coop! This sauce is delicious over pasta, but also wonderful spooned over eggplant parmesan (one of my favorites!).
While Roma or plum tomatoes, so-called "paste" tomatoes, are considered to be the best for making sauce because of their firm, meaty texture and minimal seeds, you can use any variety of tomato you want - after all, it's YOUR sauce! You also can use store bought ingredients, but growing tomatoes, onions, garlic and herbs doesn't take up much space and the flavor will be SO much more intense with fresh ingredients. You can even grow all these things right on your patio or back porch, so consider a small garden for next year if you don't already grown your own veggies!

Easy Homegrown Homemade Tomato Sauce

(makes about 2 cups)
Ingredients
1/2 cup olive oil 2 sprigs fresh thyme 3 medium onions, diced 3 cloves garlic, minced 2 lbs. tomatoes (about 6 medium), peeled, cored and chopped (be sure to keep the juices) Sprig fresh basil leaves, finely chopped Pinch of sugar 1 teaspoon salt Fresh cracked black pepper Pint ( 16oz.) mason jar (I love the shape of these Elite Collection jars from Ball Canning)
Pour the olive oil into a medium pot over a medium-low flame. Add the thyme sprigs. When the thyme begins to sizzle, add the onions and cook, stirring, until the onions soften, about 5-6 minutes. Add the garlic and continue to cook for another minute or two, stirring constantly.
Stir in the tomatoes, juice, basil, sugar, salt, and pepper. Cover and simmer for 20-25 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat. Taste and season if necessary.
At this point you can pour the sauce into a food processor or use an immersion blender to puree it. I actually prefer my sauce a bit lumpy and chunky, so I usually just use a wooden spoon or potato masher to smash the large tomato pieces a bit and call it done. Pour the sauce over your favorite pasta, parmesan dish or refrigerate the sauce for up to five days. It also freezes well.