Tomato Harvest Spaghetti With Sausage and Basil

So, it was a long wait for ripe tomatoes this year.  I am usually able to harvest my first ripe tomatoes by the Fourth of July as I tend to push my luck and get the tomatoes in the ground as early as the start of April.  But this year, the weather did not cooperate and we did not have ripe tomatoes until the very end of August.  With the batch of tomatoes I harvested in the last few days, I decided to make a simple pasta sauce.  My kids are not big fans of raw tomatoes, so this was a good opportunity to get some fresh home grown tomatoes in them.  

4 Cups finely chopped fresh tomatoes (cut tomatoes in half, squeeze seeds out, before chopping)
1/2 Sweet onion, finely diced
2 Cloves garlic, finely minced
1/4 Cup olive oil
1/2 lb Mild Italian sausage
A few tablespoons of fresh basil leaves
Freshly grated parmigiano reggiano


Heat olive oil over medium heat in a large flat rimmed pan.  Add onions and saute until softened.  Add in garlic until just fragrant and then toss in tomatoes.  Stir until tomatoes come to a simmer, turn heat down to medium low and continue to simmer for another 30 minutes or so, until sauce is quite thickened.  In the meantime, brown sausage over medium high heat.  When sauce is thickened, added the sausage to it and cook for another few minutes to incorporate.  


I made a small batch of fresh spaghetti this afternoon.  I cooked the pasta for about 1 minute in boiling water with some salt and oil.  Drain and add the spaghetti to the sauce and toss to combine.  Finish with the fresh basil leaves.  Serve with freshly grated parmigiano.


The consensus was... it was divine!  Simple, fresh ingredients, at their best.  Maggie, having such a good palette already, zeroed in on the fresh tomatoes.  Stella proclaimed she will cook with me every night to learn all of my recipes.  Now, that's a compliment!