Fresh Tomato Sauce

I've managed to eat a lot of tomatoes in the last few weeks...on BLT's, Caprese Salad, I made a heavenly Bacon Egg Tomato Cheddar Sandwich, and have eaten straight up plain tomatoes. Frankly, tomatoes are one of my favorite foods on the planet. I pulled off several more pounds of tomatoes this morning, and realized I'd need to eat a LOT more tomatoes to avoid them going to waste. So, I thought I'd give this Fresh Tomato Sauce recipe from Gourmet cookbook a try. I am a bit miffed at myself - I can't believe I haven't tried this sooner! It was so easy, and so good. But in my excitement to eat this pile of noodles covered in flavorful, yet delicate sauce, I left my burner on low and burned the last cup of sauce left in the pan. No worries though - I've got a pile of tomatoes double the size of the photo below to work with!

Here's the recipe from The Gourmet Cookbook, edited by Ruth Reichl, 2004. Pgs 207-208

Ingredients:

• 6 pounds of ripe tomatoes, such as beefsteak or plum, peeled (I didn't peel mine! Oops...and I have no idea if I had 6lbs. I eyeballed it and used about 5 medium sized tomatoes.)
• 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• 5 garlic cloves thinly sliced (I minced 6)
• 1 tsp sugar (In hindsight, I would have tasted the sauce first, then started with a half teaspoon of sugar and work my way up.)
• 1 tsp salt (Same thought on the salt as the sugar)
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh basil or flat-leaf parsley (I went with the basil from the garden)

Directions:

1. Core tomatoes and halve crosswise. Working over a sieve set over a bowl, squeeze the tomatoes gently to remove seeds. Discard seeds and reserve juice (I had to press the seeds in the sieve to get additional juice out). Coarsely chop tomatoes.
2. Heat oil in a 6- to 7-quart pot over moderately high heat until hot but not smoking. Add garlic and cook, stirring until just golden, about 1 minute. Add tomatoes, reserved juice, sugar, salt and bring to a simmer. Simmer uncovered stirring occasionally, until thickened, 45 minutes to 1 hour.
3. Stir in basil and salt to taste.

Can be made up to 4 days aead and refrigerated in an airtight container. Makes approximately 6 cups, enough for 2lbs of pasta.