homemade fresh tomato marinara sauce

i used the recipe from epicurean.com.......i didn't search long or hard, just picked one on a whim and gave it a whirl.  my only recipe criteria was all fresh ingredients - no canned or processed anything. if i was going to use that i would have just bought the sauce from the store in the first place.

i'm a first time blanch-er of tomatoes so after a call to my darling grandmother to get her tips and advice on such a thing, i set out and made it happen.  it turned out beautifully - although i did chop it up a bit more in the cuisineart because my hubby is a big picky about the chunky stuff....then i added some delicious homemade (not by me) sauce and chopped mushrooms and a teensy bit of sugar because my dad always did that and it seems important to do what your dad always did, right?  anyway...its on the table and smelling fabulous.  of course a taste test after heating it for dinner revealed that it is, indeed, awesome.  i've got another quart of it in the freezer for another day.  making it from scratch is more work than grabbing a jar from the store and putting it on the stove.....but it is definitely exciting and fulfilling and, if i say so myself, way more delicious.  even if you are imagining its more delicious because you know you made it with lots of time on your feet in the kitchen instead of taking a nap. :)
start with some good looking tomatoes - this was about 2.75 pounds

then you boil them for about 15-25 seconds until the skin loosens

then the skin slips right off - after their skin is gone you cut them open and use your thumb to 'rake' out the inner seeds and juice and keep the fleshy part of the tomato for your sauce.  for other things you could keep the seeds, but i opted to leave them out of my marinara. then squash up the tomato flesh with your hands. :)

saute some onions and garlic in olive oil.....add some parsley and basil and white wine near the end...

and there you have it. delicious!  i blanched, peeled and de-seeded the tomatoes during the little guy's nap tuesday and made the sauce wednesday and served for dinner thursday (i added the meat and mushrooms the day i served). yum!