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My late father, Tony Alfonsi, with his Italian-born mother (my grandmother) Grazia. My dad was a tough guy with a tender heart. He served in the Army Air Corps and worked for years in a Pittsburgh area steel mill. (You can see the mill's smokestacks in the background.) Garden tomatoes helped his family survive the Great Depression. |
The nutrition in freshly cooked tomatoes is a mood lifter, and this process, shared with friends or family, will uplift your spirits, as well.
May you cook it with love and make lifelong memories of your own.
🍅 ~ Cleo
(aka Alice Alfonsi)
To download my recipe now in a free PDF document that you can print, save, or share, click here.
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Cleo Coyle writes two bestselling mystery series with her husband. To learn more, click here. |
🍅 A Recipe Note from Cleo
If you've never made your own spaghetti sauce from fresh tomatoes, you are missing one of life's most satisfying culinary pleasures. It's a wonderful project for families, couples, or any curious cook who's never had the experience. The very smell of that sauce cooking will make you swoon. And the taste is so bright and fresh. It's like nothing else on earth.
If you've never made your own spaghetti sauce from fresh tomatoes, you are missing one of life's most satisfying culinary pleasures. It's a wonderful project for families, couples, or any curious cook who's never had the experience. The very smell of that sauce cooking will make you swoon. And the taste is so bright and fresh. It's like nothing else on earth.
What kind of tomatoes
should you use?
While Roma (aka Italian plum) tomatoes are traditionally used for sauce, you can use practically any tomato for this recipe or even mix the varieties. Use your nose to judge the tomato's quality. (Some grocery store tomatoes have no smell. Do you know what I mean? Pass those by and look for tomatoes that smell like tomatoes!)
Whether you grow your own, pass a farm stand with big baskets, or simply see a sale at your grocery, you can make this sauce out of practically any tomatoes you find, just make sure they're ripe (not rotten, mind you, but beautifully ripe), and carry a nice tomato scent. The more your ripe tomatoes smell like they were picked from an earthy garden, the fresher and brighter your sauce will taste!
🍅 Cleo Coyle's
Fresh Garden
Tomato Sauce
Makes about 1 to 1-1/2 quarts of sauce
(depending on your thickness preference)
INGREDIENTS
8 pounds ripe tomatoes (What kind? See my recipe note, above.)
1 onion (I use red, but any kind will do.)
4 cloves garlic
5 tablespoons butter (The secret ingredient for a smooth, sweet sauce.)
Whether you grow your own, pass a farm stand with big baskets, or simply see a sale at your grocery, you can make this sauce out of practically any tomatoes you find, just make sure they're ripe (not rotten, mind you, but beautifully ripe), and carry a nice tomato scent. The more your ripe tomatoes smell like they were picked from an earthy garden, the fresher and brighter your sauce will taste!
or on the image below..
Fresh Garden
Tomato Sauce
Makes about 1 to 1-1/2 quarts of sauce
(depending on your thickness preference)
INGREDIENTS
8 pounds ripe tomatoes (What kind? See my recipe note, above.)
1 onion (I use red, but any kind will do.)
4 cloves garlic
5 tablespoons butter (The secret ingredient for a smooth, sweet sauce.)
🍅 How to Prep Tomatoes for Cooking 🍅
Peeling and de-seeding tomatoes will remove bitterness and unwanted textures from your sauce, bringing it to a higher level of taste, so it’s truly worth the trouble. It's easy to do and once learned the skill can be used it in a lifetime of cooking.
In the video below, you will see
how to perform this simple process...
-----------------------------------
---------------------------------------
Cleo's Step-by-Step Photos
1 - Peel tomatoes to improve sauce texture: Remove stems and shallowly core as shown in my photo. Slice a small X at the bottom of each tomato.
TIP: You can save the skins to make a
delicious condiment "sun-dried tomato flakes,"
great on sandwiches and salads,
Click the photo for the recipe.
4 – Cook your tomatoes: Cook down the tomatoes over medium-high heat for about 30 or so minutes. To prevent scorching, stir the sauce every so often. Use a large spoon; and, as you stir, smash the tomatoes, crushing them up as they cook.
5 - Easy add-ins (onions and garlic): To preserve the fresh garden flavor of this sauce, I do not use spices. I simply add 2 roughly chopped medium onions and 4 cloves of smashed garlic.
Note: I roughly chop the onions and garlic at this stage because, at the end of the cooking process, I use a hand blender to smooth any remaining big chunks. If you prefer, you can do the work now, and finely chop these veggies or put them through the food processor. Then they will cook into the sauce, mostly dissolving by the end.
Stir in the onion and garlic, and then...
6 - Add the butter (the secret ingredient): As the butter cooks into the sauce, it cuts some of the acid in the tomatoes, leaving you with a sweet, smooth, bright-tasting tomato sauce that is out of this world.
Continue cooking the sauce down for another 20 to 30 minutes. You are watching for the excess liquid to evaporate, the onions to wilt and begin to dissolve and the sauce to thicken up...
7 - Buzz with a hand blender: To finish, use an immersion (hand) blender to smooth out any remaining chunks before serving. If you don't have a hand blender, you can use a food processor, food mill, or standing blender.
8 - Too thick? Add water, stock, or wine: If you happen to boil the sauce down too far, and it's too thick for your taste, you can correct it by adding water or a little vegetable (or beef) stock, or even wine. Continue cooking the sauce until you get the consistency (thinness or thickness) that you prefer.
Storing: This sauce will stay fresh about
1 week in the refrigerator or up to 6 months
in the freezer.
Eat (and read) with joy!
Eat (and read) with joy!

"EASILY ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS THAT I HAVE READ THIS YEAR...10 STARS!" —Escape with Dollycas into a Good Book
"A KNOCKOUT STORY....one of the best books in this endearing series...a TERRIFIC READ..." —Dru Ann Love, Raven Award-winning reviewer, Dru's Book Musings
"EASILY ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS THAT I HAVE READ THIS YEAR...10 STARS!" —Escape with Dollycas into a Good Book
"A KNOCKOUT STORY....one of the best books in this endearing series...a TERRIFIC READ..." —Dru Ann Love, Raven Award-winning reviewer, Dru's Book Musings
No Roast for the Weary
includes a killer menu of
tasty recipes. Get Cleo's
Free Recipe Guide below...
No Roast for the Weary
includes a killer menu of
tasty recipes. Get Cleo's
includes a killer menu of
tasty recipes. Get Cleo's
Free Recipe Guide below...
"WILDLY ENTERTAINING"
~ Criminal Element
National Mystery Bestseller
#1 Amazon Category Best SellerFresh Fiction Readers' Selection
& 2 Best of Year Lists!
To Buy:
🔎 KIRKUS REVIEWS
"Scads of red herrings, peeks behind the show-biz curtain, and bountiful appended recipes will leave fans smiling contentedly."
📚 BOOKLIST
"This twentieth Coffeehouse mystery (after Honey Roasted) brings together the history of the shop, ripped-from-the-headlines plot elements, [and] the drama of on-site filming."
The Coffeehouse Mysteries are bestselling works
of amateur sleuth fiction set in a landmark
Greenwich Village coffeehouse, and each of the
21 titles includes the added bonus of recipes.
Get a free Title Checklist of
Cleo Coyle's Books in Order
Click here or on the image below.
~ Fresh Fiction
"WILDLY ENTERTAINING"
~ Criminal Element
National Mystery Bestseller
#1 Amazon Category Best Seller
#1 Amazon Category Best Seller
Fresh Fiction Readers' Selection
& 2 Best of Year Lists!
& 2 Best of Year Lists!
To Buy:
🔎 KIRKUS REVIEWS
"Scads of red herrings, peeks behind the show-biz curtain, and bountiful appended recipes will leave fans smiling contentedly."
"Scads of red herrings, peeks behind the show-biz curtain, and bountiful appended recipes will leave fans smiling contentedly."
📚 BOOKLIST
"This twentieth Coffeehouse mystery (after Honey Roasted) brings together the history of the shop, ripped-from-the-headlines plot elements, [and] the drama of on-site filming."
The Coffeehouse Mysteries are bestselling works
of amateur sleuth fiction set in a landmark
Greenwich Village coffeehouse, and each of the
21 titles includes the added bonus of recipes.
of amateur sleuth fiction set in a landmark
Greenwich Village coffeehouse, and each of the
21 titles includes the added bonus of recipes.
Get a free Title Checklist of
Cleo Coyle's Books in Order
Click here or on the image below.
Cleo Coyle's Books in Order
Click here or on the image below.
~ Fresh Fiction
👇
👇
Cleo is now working on her
next book and Newsletter!
Cleo is now working on her
next book and Newsletter!
next book and Newsletter!
🍅 🍅 🍅