Adventures in Gardening: Homemade Red Sauce

Yesterday I made my own sauce. I didn't know what to expect since I'd never done it before, but it was truly simple!

Here are my raw ingredients.

My garden's yield

 
No, I didn't put cucumbers in my sauce... That picture is just what I picked from my garden that day--about 30 tomatoes and two cucumbers! I didn't know how many tomatoes I'd get from four plants... I grew these plants from seeds--heirlooms from my bf's uncle--and they've been quite fruitful (pun intended). :)

(Not pictured: chopped red onion. I bought it pre-chopped because I really dislike cutting onions.)

I chopped and chopped and then simmered my veggies in olive oil.

Then I added the stars of the show: my sweet, sweet tomatoes!

I got all my ingredients mixed together. Looking delicious. And the smell? Oh, it's heavenly.

All the tomatoes cooked down nicely over the course of an hour. 

I thickened it up a little and it was ready to serve.

We ate fresh pasta from Giovanni Rana (our favorite). I have additional fresh pasta to eat with the leftover sauce!

This year's garden is just about kaput, but I'm inspired for next year already!

First cucumber of the season!

So crisp, so sweet... My cucumbers vines are bursting with fruit now, meaning if any of you (in the local area) want an organically-grown cucumber, let me know. I'll soon have more than I know what to do with! (There is also potential for this same problem with tomatoes...)

Here's my beauty! I ate it solo because I can eat cucumber slices like chip. Good crunch. :)

First cucumber of the 2013 garden!