Homemade Spaghetti Sauce

Tonight I made some homemade spaghetti sauce that turned out great!  I usually make spaghetti sauce this time of year with all our tomatoes and now I'm starting to wonder if different varieties of tomatoes make for more sweet sauce and less acidic sauce because this year my sauce was super sweet! Sometimes I make homemade sauce and I have to add sugar to tame the acid from the tomatoes but this time not at all and the sauce was so sweet.  We gobbled it down!  We used Big Beef tomatoes and Early Girl which are two common varieties. Then I wondered if simmering the sauce all day will turn out more sweet sauce because that's what I did.  It started getting a little too thick so I added 8 ounces of chicken broth to thin out the sauce.  I'm not sure what the trick was this year but this was the best spaghetti sauce I've made so I'm keeping this recipe. 

Serves 4

3-4 pounds of Big Beef and Early Girl tomatoes picked right off the vine
2 Tbsp. olive oil
8 cloves of garlic, minced
2 Tbsp. basil
1 Tbsp. oregano
2 or so bay leaves
8 ounces of chicken broth.  I use these:

I like the little 8 ounce boxes they come in which seem to be the perfect size for all the things I need a little broth for. 

1 pound of Mulays Mild Italian Sausage

I've been using this mild Italian sausage for my spaghetti sauce and lasagna lately because it adds the perfect flavor to it.   In combination with the super sweet tomatoes, it's truly irresistible!

Before making the sauce, you'll need to remove the skins from the tomatoes. Boil a pot of water and have a bowl of ice water nearby.  Slice a shallow X into the bottom of each tomato. Boil 3-4 tomatoes in the pot of water until you see the X begin to split open, or about 25 seconds.  Remove with a slotted spoon and immediately place tomatoes into the bowl of ice water for a few more seconds.  Remove the tomatoes from the ice water and peel the skin at the X, removing the skins easily.

1.  Drizzle 2 Tbsp. or so of olive oil into a pot and heat.

2.  Add minced garlic and saute garlic in olive oil until light brown and fragrant.

3.  Add tomatoes and heat until simmering.  Stir with a large spoon and smash tomatoes against the sides of the pot until tomatoes are chopped up into pieces.  Continue simmering.

4.  Add basil, oregano and bay leaves.

5.  Continue simmering the rest of the day for several hours.  If the liquid appears to evaporate, add a little broth for added liquid.

6.  In another pan, saute the Italian sausage stirring constantly until the meat crumbles into small pieces.  Drain off the grease.

7.  Add the tomato sauce mixture to the meat.

8.  Cook spaghetti in a pan of boiling water. Drain and serve with spaghetti sauce spooned on top with a sprinkling of Parmesan cheese.