It has been a downright crappy year for tomatoes.  We had those pesky floods, then the rest of the summer was cool.  We also got our plants in late, which didn’t help (don’t blame Denny; every time he headed out to do yard work/gardening I said, “No, stay and help me with the baby!”).  We got lots of green tomatoes, but I was afraid we were going to get to fall with no red fruit.

This saddened me deeply.  It seems like tomatoes are a popular food to dislike; tomatoes often show up on people’s most-hated foods lists.  Why?  Why?  They’re like sunshine in your g.d. mouth.  They’re the basis for our two national condiments, salsa and ketchup (and can I mention how delighted I am that tomatoes are contributing to our changing demographics?).

Fortunately, a mild fall with some nice warm days yielded a small but pretty tomato crop.  Last night Denny and I had panini with tomatoes, garden basil, fresh mozzarella, and bacon.  I also scrounged up enough to make one big pot of tomato sauce.  Making tomato sauce is one of my favorite early-fall rituals.  I’m not brave enough to try canning it; the sauce spends the rest of the year in our chest freezer, and I get it out now and then to make pasta sauces, tomato soup, chili, or whatever else seems like it would benefit.

The “recipe” isn’t much of one, and it’s very simple—just big chunks of onion sauteed in some olive oil, garlic, lots of tomatoes (skin, seeds, and all), basil, and a little sugar and salt.  I blend it into oblivion with my handy stick blender:  the skins get pulverized to nothingness, and I’m not offended by some seeds in my sauce.  If you want to go to the trouble of blanching and de-seeding your tomatoes, be my guest, but I find it’s not worth the effort.  When I make soup, I strain it; if I’m going for a chunky sauce, I might throw in a can of Muir Glen diced tomatoes; if I’m making pizza sauce, I’ll reduce it way down.  Obviously additional seasonings go in on a dish-by-dish basis as well.

I’m so glad I got to make sauce this year, even just one smallish batch.  It would have been like summer didn’t count otherwise.  Now, what to do with all that remaining basil?  Pesto party!