For Italian families, tomato sauce is a pantry essential because it is used so often in cooking. Like many Italians, my grandparents make their own. Since I’d like to continue the tradition, I helped out in making it (Plus it’s fun and the taste beats any store-bought brand out there). Typically, the tomatoes are ordered and delivered to my grandparent’s house. Other times, they go to Arthur Avenue in the Bronx to purchase them. From 3 crates, each weighing about 63 pounds, there was a lot of tomato sauce to be had! And so, on an early September morning we got right to work making sauce to have until next year. Here's how the process goes:
1. Dice the tomatoes.
2. Boil the tomatoes and add basil, salt, and olive oil.
3. Grind them up.
4. Fill the jars.
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| The sauce should be very hot when added to the jars. |
It can be messy to make, but once you gaze at your collection of beautiful red jars, it’s so worthwhile. The best part for me is spending time with my nonna and nonno. It makes me feel all the more Italian even though I’m in a garage in New York and not on a farm in Sicily.
Italian word of the day: salsa di pomodoro; tomato sauce
