Garden Blender Spaghetti Sauce

My kids love spaghetti, so when we had a bumper crop of tomatoes a few years ago, I went online to see how to make tomato sauce. However, many of the recipes advised you to remove the skins and seeds. Really? This is a tomato we’re talking about. I’m used to eating those whole skins and all.

That’s when I came up with my “blender spaghetti sauce” recipe. While this recipe does require a few hours to simmer down or reduce, it’s significantly easier than peeling and deseeding the tomatoes for the sauce, and then making spaghetti.

Today, I’m making a double batch which will give us two meals worth of spaghetti sauce. We’ll need: 2 pounds ground meat (beef, turkey, or Italian sausage), 3-4 quarts of tomatoes, Basil, Oregano, 1 teaspoon Onion Powder, 1 teaspoon Garlic Powder, and 1 teaspoon salt. You certainly can use fresh onion and garlic if you have it, but I didn’t plant any this year.

First, we’ll wash and prepare the vegetables. Then, we’ll brown the meat. I’m cooking it long enough to get most of the pink out. I like the texture of the meat better when it’s browned first. After the meat is done, we’ll get out the blender and put together our sauce. I’m going to add my tomatoes and spices and blend them together. I’ll keep adding tomatoes until I have 8 – 9 cups worth of sauce.

Now, I’ll add the sauce to the browned meat and cook over medium heat until boiling. I’m going to maintain a low boil, stirring occasionally, until the froth dissipates. Then, I’ll turn the heat down to low and simmer the sauce until it reduces.

Initially, I’ll keep the lid on to prevent splattering, pouring off the moisture that condenses on the lid. However, as the level goes down, you can leave the lid off. I started this batch right after lunch, and I’m going to leave it simmering until dinner time. The sauce reduces to about 2/3 of its original volume.

As we look at the finished product, you really don’t see any seeds. The sauce has good texture and color. So, when I have an over abundance of tomatoes, I make the sauce as I’ve described above and freeze it for later use.