This recipe was very easy and very good. I followed the directions using many items from my garden. I also used a mixture of fresh and dried herbs since I had some fresh items from my garden as well. The tomato paste really makes the difference here and it is a very important step not to be missed. It thickens it completely up. I just wish there was some way to make it thick by using fresh ingredients so it could be 100% organic from my garden. One tip - we divided it in half and used Mexican spices in one half and we made a great sauce for enchiladas and other Mexican items.

This recipe was really good. I cut the recipe in half b/c that was all the tomatoes that I had. I needed a way to use my tomatoes and ones that a friend gave me. I did cook on low for about 6 hours. I omitted the bell pepper b/c my family doesn't like them. I added extra garlic (b/c we love garlic, I roasted it first and used the whole head) and some red pepper flakes. I used my Braun hand mixer to puree the sauce. I used the whole can of tomato paste. It is a very good sauce. Tastes like a basic sauce, but better than the jarred stuff. I froze in 3 ziplock freezer bags for later. ********Update: I made this again. Just a week later. This time I used the full 16 cups of tomatoes. Well a little over. I bought over 5 lbs of plum tomatoes. I still left out the bell pepper, and added about 3/4 tsp red pepper flakes, 2 bay leaves, and 2 heads roasted garlic (drizzle with olive oil and cook 35 min. in 400 degree oven, squeeze out garlic). I followed the rest of the ingredients exactly. I left it on low in the crockpot for 8 hours. When I came home it smelled like an italian resturant. I removed the bay leaves and pureed the sauce with my Braun hand mixer to make it smooth adn added 1 can of tomato paste. It made about 3 1/2 quarts. I plan on freezing it. My last batch is gone already. It was excellent! I made spagetti and meatballs and eggplant lasagna with the sauce last time.

Excellent! I have made this for several years. I love to pile my freezer full and enjoy it all year long. I no longer make it in a crockpot. I found that the crockpot is too small and messy for the recipe. I simmer it on the stovetop in a large stock pot for a few hours. I find that the sauce becomes much thicker when I make it on the stovetop.

I did scald and peel my tomatoes first. I gave this 5 stars due to how great it tastes and how easy it was. I have spent a lot more on ingredients and time on other spaghetti sauces and this one was just as good AND simple.

This recipe worked AWESOME, even though I reduced it by a factor of 8! I divided the recipe by 8 because I was only cooking for 2 and those were the ingredients that we had, but I did add a whole 6 oz can of tomato paste. I blanched 3 large tomatoes first and then peeled and chopped them. I added everything to the crock pot (except I didn't use oil and I used fresh herbs instead of dried) without sauteeing anything first and cooked on high about 3.5 hours, stirring every 30 minutes or so. Then I turned it to low and let it just stay hot while I cooked some hot italian brats, sliced them and put them in the sauce for another 30 minutes or so. This was delicious over spaghetti and a great way to use all our produce. The leftovers were even better the next day.

This is pretty good. It was a bit acidic, but I eliminated the sugar--bf hates it in spaghetti sauce. I really don't know how much I made, bc I gave up on measuring. I did attempt to follow the recipe amounts at first, but that didn't last long. . . anyway, I peeled the tomatoes by boiling them for a minute then the skins came right off. I also just broke up the tomatoes with my hands as another reviewer did. I didn't have peppers to add, but I did add mushrooms (for the bf)and 2 bay leaves. I added a 12 oz can of tomato paste to all of it and it was the perfect consistency for me. Very good, thanks!

I used tomatoes and fresh herbs from our garden it was wonderful. I did add extra garlic for my taste.

I've never made spaghetti sauce this way, but it turned out great and very fresh! I made this while I was pregnant and it has come in handy with a new baby. I plan on always keeping some on hand in the freezer!

This recipe took some work but in the end came out very well. I cooked it about two hours and then ran it through the food processor. I would highly recommend this step as it gave it a much smoother consistency. I then split the recipe into thirds and froze two portions of it. I added about 6 oz of tomato paste to the remaining third of the recipe. This was too much as it made it too thick. I went back and added another can of stewed tomatoes and it was perfect. I also left out the parsley as I did not have any - I will add that next time I make it.

sentsational sauce the best I have had, this fits the bill for the bounty of tomatoes from our garden.

I really liked this sauce, I added mushrooms,and parmesan cheese, otherwise kept everything else the same. I will be making it again next year. Thanks Stephanie

Best sauce I have EVER had, period.It is so flavorful. I added 1/2t. fennel seed and 1t of italion seasoning.

I have been making lots of this spaghetti sauce and freezing it. I did use the sauce once on a boli pizzi and it was out of this world. So I made more of the sauce and froze it. I can't wait to thaw in the winter and have tasty homemade sauce. Thanks for the recipe.

Awesome sauce! I just blanched and broke the tomatoes up with my hands. I only added 3T of garlic and 3 onions, because I didn't quite have enough tomatoes. I cooked it down for 5 hours, then pureed the sauce. It was wonderful.

Due to mixed reviews, I cooked my sauce on the stovetop until it was the desired consistency (about two and a half hours). As other reviewers have mentioned, peeling the tomatoes first is a good idea. I thought the recipe was pretty fantastic. Only changes I made were to use fresh herbs instead of dried (because I had them) and I added a couple of bay leaves. Also, I'd recommend cutting the salt in half. You can always add more later. I used the sauce last night for baked ravioli (beef ravioli layered with the sauce and shredded mozzarella) and it got rave reviews.

Maybe it's just me, but I didn't like this at all (as written). It just seemed like a bunch of seasoned tomatoes. I used about 1/2 fresh tomatoes and 1/2 canned diced tomatoes. After cooking on high for 4 hours in the crockpot (any less wouldn't have seemed done at all), I ended up running everything through a blender. I then put it in a stockpot and added about 28oz of tomato sauce. I let it simmer for about 1 1/2 hours on the stove. I haven't added tomato paste yet, though it doesn't seem like it really needs it. I do like the sauce I ended up with, but I won't make it again. I'm going to keep looking for a different recipe using fresh tomatoes. Sorry!