This is really for

bandersnatch

since he has a whole bunch of homegrown tomatoes at the moment, but I thought I’d share. It’s my mom’s recipe and I had to actually get her to recite it for me over the phone because she doesn’t actually have it written down. Man, is it GOOD though. It’s easily adaptable depending on how much sauce you want to make.

THREE-DAY TOMATO SAUCE

Coarsely chop 1 medium onion and sautee along with 2 cloves of garlic with some olive oil in a skillet until semi-translucent. Put everything in the bottom of a large crockpot. Add 3 small cans of tomato paste. Peel a dozen tomatoes (use more or less depending on how much sauce you want) and then chop into quarters. Add to crockpot. Add 2 small cans of tomato sauce, a tablespoon of brown sugar, and 1 teaspoon each oregano, basil, parsley. Add a tablespoon of dried red pepper (or you can use a tablespoon of diced jalepeno) and plenty of coarse salt and pepper. Choose a good burgundy or chianti and add enough to cover tomatoes. Put crockpot on lowest setting and allow to simmer for two or three days, stirring briefly every few hours. Add water (sparingly) if needed.

If you want to include sausage or meatballs, add to sauce a few hours before serving.

This sauce freezes indefinitely really well and will taste even better as leftovers!