Fresh tomatoes give homemade sauce zest

M y friend Lynn Stephen told me about some 5-gallon buckets of tomatoes she recently picked at a roadside farm on Leonard Lee Road in Wimauma. And with what sounded like seemingly little effort, she then turned the ripe gems into a dozen quarts of homemade tomato sauce for her freezer.

When I heard her story, a delicious picture formed in my mind - tomato sauce, lots and lots of tomato sauce stashed away in my freezer.

Why not? Tomatoes are everywhere lately.

My neighbors are sharing them, and roadside stands are bulging with them. Not only that. They're inexpensive.

A few weeks ago, I discovered black cherry tomatoes at Mabry's market in Wimauma.

Grown locally, these low acid, ebony-purple beauties are incredibly sweet and delicious. Although they require no cooking, I heated mine in a large frying pan and added a tablespoon of olive oil and some chopped garlic. Then I tossed a dozen or so halved cherry tomatoes and a handful of fresh spinach into the pan, allowing the spinach to wilt a bit. I served the mixture with penne pasta for super-simple and oh-so-flavorful dinner.

OK, back to the tomato sauce.

About two weeks ago, I stood amid rows and rows of tomato vines at the Artesian Farms U-pick field off College Avenue East and 27th Street Southeast, behind the Circle K. Within a half-hour, two 5-gallon buckets were filled to the rim.

If you've got a big stainless steel pot, you can make tomato sauce.

I've included a basic one as this week's recipe. According to what you have on hand or how you intend to serve it, you can dress it up in a number of ways. If you like chunky sauce, skip the blender step and add your favorite vegetables and seasonings to suit your taste. The sauce can be frozen in zippered bags with the air squeezed out or in plastic freezer jars.

Remember that visual I had? I ended up with 14 quarts of smooth, red sauce, which I froze and tucked away for future use. That's all there was to it.

EASY, FREEZER TOMATO SAUCE