I agree Ann. Nothing better than a tomato sauce made from great tomatoes, fresh garlic and herbs from the garden.

I miss my little summer garden this year. But I'm glad I didn't plant anything other than herbs. We are having a really cool summer. Not a good year for tomatoes.

Ann

Sigh......I am afraid my neighbor's tree has grown too big for me to grow tomatoes....all plant and a few green marbles....
I am afraid I will be dependent on the kindness of strangers.....

I hear ya, Linda! I have 4 tomato plants in the backyard, lots of tomatoes, but none ripening yet. Too much shade from the back and side neighbors yards. The birds discover the green tomatoes and start pecking them and there they go. Sigh......
Teresa

My tomatoes didn't pan out this year either. Going to have to visit our local veggie stand if I want any kind of tomatoes. Love the heirlooms. Such great flavor...a little salt and pepper, homemade mayo and you have the fixin's for a great summer tomato sandwich. NancyLouise

Ann, please, please send some of that cool weather eastward, would ya? Nudge it a bit south, too, while you're at it.

Here we have the opposite problem than Ann, as the summer's just too hot for tomatoes. I'm still getting a few, but the plants are suffering, and they just don't make tomatoes very well in this kind of heat. And it's going to get still hotter next week.

Sally

My tomatoes are doing well so far, but it's in the high 90s today, with heat indices well over 100. It's supposed to cool down to the high 80s next week, so hopefully it'll be OK. We do need rain and I've been running the sprinkler on my little backyard raised garden.

No heirlooms ripe yet, except for a handful of Yellow Cherry, but I keep watching! The Mortgage Lifter finally has a lot of green tomatoes, and they're one of my favorites for flavor, so I'm waiting.....

Ann/spacific, one of the few ways I actually like a tomato "sauce" is if I can saute some chopped onion and garlic until translucent, toss in some chunks of fresh tomato and cook just until they are heated, then stir into pasta with a shaving of fresh parmesan. I seldom like cooked sauces, but I'll have to give your version a try.

Annie

Our summer temps have been a bit below normal this year but still warm enough for tomatoes - I just haven't gotten many, except for cherry tomatoes, and I'm getting those by the dozens every day now. I have a couple of other plants - a Roma and something else that have a few tomatoes, but not enough to make a sauce. I'm hoping they will continue to grow through to next summer, as the older plants do better for me. There were a few years when I had great tomatoes in Venice, and I don't know what the change has been. My favorite was the Dona variety, and I haven't seen that one lately. I guess I should hit the Farmers' markets for tomatoes if I want to make some sauce.

Annie, I also like sauce that has been just barely cooked, similar to the way you make it, but I also add some fresh basil at the end.

Lars

Lars, that's a really good idea, I have basil growing right outside the back door, and that would make a nice addition too, thanks!

Annie

Annie, I put the stems of the basil in when I start that kind of fresh sauce [and longer cooking ones too], then add all the leaves as it's done and pick out the stems. I use a lot of basil. Smiles. I have ten pots of basil on my front porch and am so proud. LOL.

Oh, btw, it sounds a bit strange, but if I have leftover baked potato or potato pieces I add them at the beginning of a fresh sauce. They absorb the tomato and basil flavor and add a welcome texture. Of course with me, I often add some sliced summer squash too. I love fresh pasta sauces.

I have to agree that I'm not a big fan of marinara sauce, but I do like to do like Ann does and saute fresh tomatoes very quickly, with the addition of garlic, or onions, or whatever I have on hand like that, plus some fresh rosemary or basil, for a fresh sauce. The shaving of parmesan makes it perfect.

Lars, that can be done with cherry tomatoes, too.

Sally

My favorite tomato sauce is the simplest, tomatoes cooked quickly in browned butter with a few herbs and no garlic.

I have a hard time not adding garlic but it makes a sauce that tastes different than all the sauces that use the same herbs and garlic.

I read one time from a chef that one shouldn't automatically sprinkle Parmesan cheese on pasta dishes or they will all taste too much the same and that garlic was the same way.

I too like doing just the quick saute version. I was planning on doing it with these tomatoes as well, but they broke down into sauce so quickly. I didn't even peel the tomatoes and the skins melted away like magic. I've got another batch going just now that I'll freeze. Yeah!

Bumblebeez, your comment is one I've realized from traveling in Italy. Red sauce is definitely not just red sauce. For me, how I cook it depends so much on the quality of the ingredients and time of year. In winter, when there are no fresh tomatoes, I'll make the slow cooking meat sauce. At the peak of tomato season, it's more of that fresh tomato, quick toss with basil. When I have a huge crop of volunteer tomatoes that don't really have great flavor, I slow roast them make a cold pasta dish.

Ann