Instant Pot Tomato Sauce

Instant Pot Tomato Sauce
by Cheryl L. McClure

OMGeee!!
😄
Taa Daa! Cherokee tomatoes from the veggie garden and some other odds and ends make up this tomato sauce. This sauce is more for spaghetti but you can jazz it up for Tex-Mex or anything else you like.

Normally I would purée it but shown here, was so darn chunky and pretty, I left it alone.

Here's the process y'all!

INGREDIENTS:
2 pounds or so of fresh tomatoes (I had a big bowl of them)
2 tablespoons olive oil or almond oil
1 large onion (or two)
2 cloves garlic
2 stalks celery
1 large carrot
2 cups vegetable stock or water
2 bay leaves
2 tablespoons fresh chopped parsley
2 tablespoons fresh chopped basil
1 tablespoon dried oregano
1 tablespoon dried thyme
1 sprig fresh rosemary

Sauté onions in the oil (I like almond oil since it works well with high heat), then add garlic, chopped celery and chopped carrots in the Instant Pot. Continue to sauté till onions are caramelized and celery and carrots are tender.

Throw your tomatoes on top after you have quartered and squeezed out most of the liquidy seeds. (Is liquidy a word? If not, I just made that up.) Mix it all together a little bit.

Pour 2 cups water or stock on top. This is where it got interesting. I used the leftover juices from when Jan Paul grilled meat and veggies and had added it all to a pot with a little water to keep everything moist. I had stored the juices in the freezer and this was the perfect time to use them.

Lay two big bay leaves on top and then add your herbs on top of that. I used about two tablespoons fresh chopped parsley, chopped basil from the garden, tablespoon dried oregano, thyme and a sprig of rosemary. FYI - If I’m out of any of these herbs or don’t want the texture, Young Living has all of them in a Vitality line for use in cooking. Check them out at my other website: Nature at its Best

When it's all layered in like this, set the instant pot to manual for 20 minutes. Release pressure when done.

This was quite liquidy when it was done so I needed to cook it down using the sauté setting.

First remove the rosemary stem and the two bay leaves. I didn’t want to mess with blanching them first to get the skins off, so as it cooked down, I fished out the most prominent tomato skins that were mostly floating on top.

Once it got to my preferred consistency I let it cool. Normally I would use my immersion blender to smooth everything out but it was so pretty and chunky and rich and tasted great! All I need to do now is decide if I want to use it on my zucchini zoodles alone or if I want to add ground beef. I would sauté the beef in the instant pot and then dump the whole jar on top to heat through.

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If you prefer a smoother sauce, you can use an immersion blender. Works great and in this 2 quart batch, I didn't even take the tomato skins out. I like shortcuts! This sauce shown below was lighter than the other batch because I just used water instead of stock from grilled veggies. It was still good though!

I hope you have a chance to grow your own tomatoes, if you haven't already. They're so much better than what you get at the grocery store! And how many tomatoes have you seen smile at you from the store, huh? (See below) LOL!

Wishing you and yours well during these challenging times. Happy Veggie Gardening! Enjoy!

Cheryl at Pickle Creek Ranch
YL Distributor 1176855

INSTANT POT TOMATO SAUCE
INGREDIENTS:
2 pounds or so of fresh tomatoes (I had a big bowl of them)
1 large onion
2 cloves garlic
2 stalks celery
1 large carrot
2 cups vegetable stock or water
2 bay leaves
2 tablespoons fresh chopped parsley
2 tablespoons fresh chopped basil
1 tablespoon dried oregano
1 tablespoon dried thyme
1 sprig fresh rosemary

1. Sauté onions in the Instant Pot, then add garlic, chopped celery and chopped carrots. Continue to sauté till onions are caramelized and celery and carrots are tender.
2. Add quartered tomatoes and mix. Let cook a little longer.
3. Pour 2 cups water or stock on top. Do not stir any more after you've mixed the water in. You want the herbs to remain on top.
4. Place two big bay leaves on top and then add your herbs on top of that. That would be the parsley, basil, oregano and thyme.
5. Set the Instant Pot to manual for 20 minutes. Release pressure when done.
6. If too liquidy, cook it down using the sauté setting, stirring often to desired thickness. You can add a teaspoon of tomato paste or cornstarch to thicken.
7. Remove the rosemary stem and the two bay leaves, and if desired, the tomato skins.

Use to make chili or add ground beef for spaghetti sauce. You can also jazz it up with jalapeños for Tex-Mex.