Tomato Sauce

Tomato Sauce

10 medium to large tomatoes
2 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp butter
1 green pepper, chopped
1/2 red onion, chopped
1 jalapeno, finely chopped (if you don't like spicy, omit)
3-5 tbsp minced garlic (I probably used even more...we really like garlic)
1/8 tsp oregano
1/8 tsp salt
1/8 tsp basil
1/8 tsp rosemary
1/8 tsp pepper

1. Put tomatoes in a pot of boiling water and let sit for 1 minute. Immediately remove with a slotted spoon and place in an ice water bath.
2. Once cooled, peel skins, chop and remove seeds. Put in a food processor and process until smooth. (If you want chunkier sauce, leave 1-2 tomatoes chopped but not processed.)
3. Put olive oil, butter, green pepper, jalapeno and onion in a large pan or Dutch oven. Cook on medium-high heat until tender, about 3-5 minutes.
4. Reduce heat and add garlic, tomato puree, oregano, salt, basil, rosemary and pepper.
5. Simmer sauce for 3-4 hours, stirring occasionally.

Notes: This makes enough pasta sauce for 3-4 servings. When you first let it simmer, it will seem really thin and odd looking. By the end of the simmer time, it will thicken and redden up. As of this posting, I've only made it once but it was delicious. Next time I'm going to try a variation with cheeses. It is fairly time consuming to get the tomatoes prepped, but it does result in a really fresh and vibrant tasting sauce. The seasoning amounts are completely estimated. I tried to low-ball the recipe amounts so add extra to taste if needed.

Recipe Origination: I looked at tons of recipes online and kind of combined what I liked from a bunch to get this one. The jalapeno was all me because we have so many in our garden I'm going to add them to everything we eat until they're gone :)