damn good garden tomato pasta sauce

it's been a weird summer weather wise, but fortunately for us, and probably for many of you as well the garden goddess always blesses us with delicious heirloom tomatoes.

so, in honor of her and the dozens of tomatoes we have, i put together a delicious pasta sauce to use on all of your favorite goods from seared tofu to grilled flatbread.

garden tomato pasta sauce

3 cloves garlic - chopped

1/2 yellow onion - chopped

1/2 cup fresh basil - chopped

1/2 tbsp - crushed red pepper flakes

1 1/2 tbsp tomato paste

1 tbsp olive oil (keep a bit for a final drizzle)

4 garden tomatoes - boiled, skinned and blended

1 cup red wine

1 tsp sugar

1 tsp oregano

1/4 cup water **(optional)

salt and pepper to taste

(for those of you who don't use fresh tomatoes very often for sauce, it's really quite simple and fun. what i do is bring 4 quarts of salted water to a boil. then, after coring my tomatoes i add them to the salted water. let them cook until the skin begins to split pretty well. remove them and let cool. once they are cooled off, you can peel the skin off. throw them into a blender and voila!, tomato sauce).

in a medium skillet heat your oil. add the garlic, onions and a pinch of salt and pepper. cook until the onion begins to sweat, then add your tomato paste and red wine. reduce for approximately 5-7 minutes. the color should be a deep red, almost purple.

add your blended tomatoes, oregano, sugar and red pepper flakes. add a pinch of salt and pepper to taste.

**(if you find your sauce to be a bit too thick, feel free to add the 1/4 up of water).

right at the end add the fresh chopped basil, a drizzle of olive oil and salt and pepper if needed.

pour onto your favorite pasta or use as a dip for garlic bread.

serve with a glass of cabernet.

enjoy!