Tomato Thyme

There's nothing like home-grown tomatoes. The colors and flavors are amazing! And in Northern California, these lovely nuggets grow until autumn with the plants peaking in late summer. The tomatoes we planted earlier this year have been going crazy for the past week, so I decided to harvest the plants and make a fresh tomato sauce. Fresh tomato sauce is something precious, especially when made with the home-grown, organic tomatoes you've been nurturing for months! I know it sounds like such a pun, but there is no better way to describe the flavor than "fresh." It's as if little tomato fairies are dancing on your tongue! Now, there are no rules for fresh tomato sauce...you can make it all your own. Start with any type of fresh tomato - Roma happens to be MY favorite type for sauce. You can boil them, then remove the skin and seeds, or just dice them and use the entire fruit. Now what you add from here is entirely up to you - onion, garlic, and fresh basil are staples, but you can add other fresh veggies, such as bell peppers or zucchini. Don't forget about all the other goodies you can add as well - rosemary, thyme, oregano, bay leaves, etc. Once you're done adding ingredients, you'll want to let the sauce simmer for a couple of hours to make sure all those flavors are pulled into your sauce. Adding meat (Italian sausage, ground turkey, beef, etc.) will give the sauce yet another dimension of flavor. Use an immersion blender (or upright blender) to create a smooth sauce. Dice the tomatoes and/or veggies for chunky style. Spice it up with hot peppers or chilis for some spice. The possibilities are endless! Tomato sauce freezes very well too, so you can enjoy the fresh taste of summer for months to come!