No-Cook Garden Vegetable Sauce

By bakers_delight85

Save Your Sauce! When the sauce cools, divide the big batch into 2 to 3 quart-size resealable plastic bags. They don't take up as much room in the freezer as plastic containers, and they're easier to defrost in the microwave (place the bag in a bowl first, and be sure to open the bag a little so the sauce can breathe while it thaws). Plus, if you don't need the whole bag of sauce, you can just place the bag in the bowl and run cold water over it for 10 minutes or so until it just begins to thaw. Then break off as much as you need and transfer it to a pot to warm up, whole rezipping the bag and returning the rest to the freezer.

Ingredients

• 5 pounds ripe tomatoes, cored and chopped into 1/2-inch cubes
• 2 large, sweet onions (such as Vidalia), finely chopped
• 1 orange, red, or yellow bell pepper, seeded and ribbed and finely chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
• 1-2 jalapeno peppers to taste, seeded and ribbed
• 1/2 cup finely chopped basil, cilantro, and/or oregano
• 1 cup white wine vinegar or fresh lime juice
• 2 tsp. salt
• 1 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
• 1/3 cup tomato paste (optional)

Details

Servings 3

Preparation

Step 1

Stir Together and Store: Combine the tomatoes, onions, bell pepper, garlic, jalapeno peppers, herbs, vinegar or lime juice, salt and pepper in a large bowl. If you want your sauce to have a smoother texture, add the optional tomato paste. Refrigerate the mixture overnight to blend the flavors before using. Divide it among quart-size resealable freezer bags and refrigerate it for up to 5 days or freeze for up to 3 months.