homemade tomato sauce & zucchini chips

Joe and I have been given SO many garden tomatoes (thank you, wonderful families!) and I was excited to put some of them to use making a homemade tomato sauce for the first time (with fresh tomatoes). I consulted a few web sites (this one in particular), then got to it.

Homemade Tomato Sauce

• 7 medium to large tomatoes
• 1/4 cup minced onion
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 tsp dried thyme or 1 Tbsp fresh
• 1 Tbsp fresh rosemary
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 tsp sugar

1. Fill a large pot with water to boil. Rinse and score about 7 medium to large tomatoes. I took a paring knife to “score” the bottom of the tomato skin with an x.

2. Once the water comes to a boil, drop in the tomatoes with a slotted spoon so you don’t splash boiling water on your hand (I could only fit in about 4 at one time), for 30 seconds. Then remove with a slotted spoon to a bowl filled with ice and water (ice bath).

3. Remove from ice bath and peel off the skin (which is so easy!).

4. Core the tomatoes by cutting out the stem and roughly chop the tomatoes. I did seed some of my tomatoes but not all. I recommend getting out as many seeds as possible by gently squeezing the tomatoes. Set aside in a bowl.

5. Now you can take that same pot you used to boil the tomatoes, dump out the water, and heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil in it. You will also need an onion.

6. Mince about a 1/4 of a large onion. Some people don’t like onions, so go for a good flavor and not big chunkage (which I’ve done before), and finely mince. I love me some onions, but if you’re cooking for others, just be aware.

7. Add onion to olive oil and sauté until translucent, about 3 minutes. Then add 2 minced cloves of garlic.

8. Add your tomatoes. Stir.

9. And your next few ingredients. I didn’t have fresh garlic, (which was already added above), but please, use it if you have it. 2 bay leaves, 1 Tbsp fresh rosemary, 1 tsp dried thyme.

10. Cook on medium heat while the tomato sauce bubbles away for at least 1.5 hours (I did longer by knocking it down to low after 1.5 hrs). It will majorly reduce! This is it after about 1 hour.

11. I then added sea salt and pepper to taste, and 1 tsp of sugar and let it cook for a bit longer.

Please, please serve this with the following:

Zucchini Chips

These are AMAZING. They are baked and not fried, yet they are crunchy on the outside and perfectly soft on the inside and full of flavor. Denise, the mom I nanny for, made zucchini chips a few months ago and I’ve been wanting to make them ever since. This is my adapted recipe I found from here.

Baked Zucchini Chips

• 1 medium to large zucchini, cut into 1/4 in. thick pieces
• 1/2 cup bread crumbs
• 1/4 cup parmesan or Romano cheese
• Dash of sea salt
• Dash of garlic powder
• Dash of oregeno
• Dash of onion powder
• 1/8 tsp pepper
• 1 or 2 eggs (I started with 1, then needed some of a 2nd)

1. Preheat oven to 475 degrees and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Slice zucchini into 1/4 inch thick pieces. I didn’t use this whole large zucchini, but I probably cut about 25 pieces (I left about 1/4 of it unsliced).

2. Add your bread crumbs and Parmesan or Romano cheese to a dish.

3. Add your spices to the bread crumbs and cheese.

4. Crack an egg in another dish and scramble it up.

5. Coat zucchini slices in egg then in bread crumb mixture and place on baking sheet.

6. Bake for five minutes, then flip, and bake for 10 minutes.

Serve these zucchini chips with the homemade tomato sauce as an appetizer, side dish, or as Joe and I did: for dinner, eating mass quantities of it.

ENJOY, loves!

“God sent him[Jesus] to buy freedom for us who were slaves to the law, so that he could adopt us as his very own children…Now you are no longer a slave but God’s own child. And since you are his child, everything he has belongs to you.” Galatians 4:5,7

xoxo

Lauren