What Have I Gotten Myself Into?

This time of year I enjoy making homemade tomato sauce.  An opportunity presented itself to have a whole day to make tomato sauce so I thought a whole bushel of Roma tomatoes would be a good idea.  Keep telling me that it was a good idea...

Seriously, I have been working since 9am it is now approaching Noon and I am a hair over halfway done.  I think the Romas are multiplying in the bushel basket.  I must have several paper cuts on my hands because the acid keeps finding them and my hands are SORE!

I will say that it smells absolutely fantastic in my house.  I wish I had an exact recipe for this but it really depends on your sense of taste and how much you are making.

I started with some red onion and orange pepper which I sauteed in olive oil until they were soft.  During that time, I had scored the bottoms of a pot full of Romas and cored them.  Then I threw them into a large pot filled with water and let it boil until the skins were falling off.  Drain them and let the sit for a while unless your fingertips are made of asbestos.  I use rubber gloves to remove the skins when the tomatoes have cooled for a bit.  If you're not going to protect your hands, let them cool completely.

Once I had skinless tomatoes, I tossed them into a giant pot where I had the onion and pepper.  I threw  in some red wine, Parmesan cheese, sugar (be generous here, today my tomatoes had a ton of acid), fresh basil and oregano leaves, fresh parsley, dried ground oregano, dried basil, salt, pepper, and Italian seasoning.

Boil the mixture rapidly until it cooks down about a quarter inch on the pan.  Turn off the flame and get out the coolest invention of all time; the stick blender.  Blend until you reach your desired smoothness.  I don't mind chunks in my sauce.  Once during the process I poured about a quarter cup of olive oil into the pot...it gives the sauce a glossy, rich look.

I kept repeating the process until my bushel basket was empty; the whole process took from 9am until 3:50pm with occasional breaks to switch laundry loads around, eat lunch, inspect the window installation that was going on while I was working and look after a nosy beagle.

My finished product is 43 cups of yummy tomato sauce base that I will use for making pasta, pizza, vodka sauce, arabiatta sauce and anything else I can come up with along the way.

PS--This is the first year that I have actually had sauce that wasn't overly watery.  I think the cooking down is the trick.  Also, I am not going to lie, this process is exhausting!  My back is killing me, I cut myself twice coring the tomatoes, and my legs are stiff.  One taste and it is all worth it!