How to make pasta sauce with fresh tomatoes

I had a lot of tomatoes and didn't feel like peeling and canning them so I decided to make a big pot of pasta sauce.  Making this sauce with a food mill is much easier than boiling/peeling each and every tomato.  Plus you can throw in all those cherry tomatoes that are growing like crazy.  It's an easy way to use them up and not waste them. 
Once you've thoroughly washed and cored all the tomatoes (I don't core the cherry tomatoes), cut them in quarters and heat on medium in a large stock pot.


Don't be afraid to load it up because it will cook down quickly. I think this is about an 6 quart pot.



After about 10 minutes or so the tomatoes will soften. See food mill to the right of the stock pot.



Pass the softened tomatoes through the food mill to remove the seeds and peels.



Put the de-seeded/de-peeled sauce back on the stove to cook.



Heat on medium high until the volume is reduced by about half.



I didn't feel like babysitting this sauce so I transferred it to a crockpot to finish cooking.

Saute 1 large chopped onion, 1 large bell pepper and 4 cloves of minced garlic in about 1-2 T of olive oil and add this to the crockpot with the sauce.  To finish it off, add the following: 2- 4oz cans tomato paste, 1 T basil, 1 T oregano, 2 t thyme, a couple of bay leaves, fresh black pepper and salt to taste.  I left this on low for the day.  It's makes the house smell so good.  You should taste often and adjust the seasonings.  This has a fresher and sweeter taste than a sauce made with canned tomatoes and depending on your tomatoes and your volume you may want to add more or less of the spices.  After about 6 hours or so, it's ready for dinner.  Freeze what you don't plan to eat.



Yum!

 You could add some sauteed vegetables like zucchini, eggplant, etc. or some eggplant meetballs to the sauce but I was in the mood for just regular fresh made pasta sauce.