These are two of Lauren’s mother-in-law’s jars of home made tomato sauce. I call it “Backyard Sauce” because it’s made in the back yard during peak tomato season, late August and September.

Fresh Home Made Tomato Sauce aka “Backyard Sauce”

Late August and September is tomato sauce making season!!!  There are still many Italians who make it in their back yards with the help of their family members.  It is quite an event and I am envious because my mom never made “backyard sauce” as I like to call it.  It requires equipment and bushels of tomatoes.  Of course growing up on Stanhope Street and Knickerbocker Avenue we never had a back yard so I guess we had a good reason.  When we moved to DeKalb Ave, my father was very ill and and so we never had the chance to make the sauce in our new back yard.  As I got older there was always someone giving away these jars of sauce like precious gold and now I very happily receive jars every year from my friends who make it during the sauce making season.

Here I am frying up some onion and garlic to add my jars of sauce to, then I topped it off with a dash of fresh oregano and basil from my yard.  I hope you get to experience this wonderful fresh sauce.  I loved mine, it was tangy and simply delicious.

Fry an onion until golden glossy and a bit brown. Then add chopped garlic to your liking.

I added the two jars of home made back yard tomato sauce to the fried onions, garlic, and olive oil. Add salt and pepper to taste.

These jars of sauce were so delicious to me because they were tangy and I like the fresh sauce like that. That’s a basil leaf in the jar, they always jar the tomatoes with a basil leaf.

Here is the beautiful homemade tomato sauce simmering away. I sprinkled some oregano and added some fresh basil leaves from my yard.

Don’t forget the Pecorino Romano!