Pasta sauce "Napoli"

Ingredients for 1 servings:

• 4 kg tomatoes, fresh
• 10 garlic cloves
• 1 bunch of fresh Mediterranean herbs, e.g. rosemary, thyme and sage
• 1 red chili pepper(s)
• 12 tbsp olive oil
• 2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
• some salt
• some sugar

Instructions

Working time approx. 40 minutes; Cooking/baking time approx. 40 minutes; Total time approx. 1 hour 20 minutes

Makes about 3 liters

Wash the tomatoes, remove the stems, and dice the flesh. Peel and finely chop the garlic cloves. Rinse the herbs, shake dry, and finely chop any leaves or needles. Clean the chili pepper, cut it lengthwise, remove the seeds, and cut into fine rings. Preheat the oven to 200°C (180°C fan/convection oven). Heat the olive oil in a large ovenproof roasting pan and fry the garlic, herbs, and chili over medium heat. Make sure the garlic doesn’t get too brown, or the sauce will become bitter! Add the tomatoes and season with a little salt and sugar. Then simmer uncovered in the oven for about 40 minutes. Remove the sauce from the oven, season with salt, sugar, and balsamic vinegar, puree, and finally pass it through a fine sieve. I came up with this recipe because I usually have a lot of tomatoes in the summer. Since I’m making a lot of sauce at once, I do the following: sterilize some screw-top jars (which should be thoroughly cleaned beforehand) in the oven at 120°C for about 10 minutes. While they’re at it, place the clean lids in boiling water. Remove them and dry them thoroughly with a clean tea towel. Pour the boiling sauce into the jars and seal them with the lids. Store in a cool, dark place.