Recipe for Slow Cooker Fresh Tomato Pasta Sauce

Makes 12-18 servings

2 onions, diced
1/4 cup tomato paste
2 Tbsp olive oil
6 garlic cloves, minced
1 tsp dried oregano (or 1 Tbsp fresh)
1/2 cup chicken broth (or veggie broth)
1/4 cup quick cooking tapioca
2 bay leaves
5 lbs fresh tomatoes, cored and diced
1 Tbsp dried basil (or 1/4 cup fresh)
Salt and pepper

1.  Place onions, tomato paste, oil, garlic and oregano in microwave safe bowl.  Microwave for about 4 or 5 minutes, stirring every minute.  Onions should be soft.  Place onion mixture in slow cooker. 
2.  Stir the broth, tapioca, tomatoes and bay leaves into the slow cooker. 
3.  Cover and cook on HIGH for 5-6 hours or on LOW for 8-10 hours. 
4.  Discard the bay leaves.  Use an immersion blender to blend the tomato chunks (if desired).  Add in plenty of salt and pepper to taste and add in the basil. 
5.  Sauce may be runny so you may wan to simmer on HIGH with the lid off for the last hour. 

Review:
My friend gave me a huge bag of tomatoes fresh from her garden.  I love tomatoes and especially fresh ones this time of year.  I decided to use some of them to make this pasta sauce.  I loved the taste of the sauce and it seemed so fresh and healthy.  The thing that I didn’t like was that it was much too runny, even after the use of the tapioca.  If you can, let the lid off for the last hour.  If not, you may have to transfer the sauce to a big pot and simmer on the stove top until it reduces down.  I also ended up blending mine to make it a little creamier and less chunky.  Which was a good choice since the kids like to pick out the chunks and say in a most annoying and whiny voice “I don’t like this!”  Then I think in my head, “well I don’t like you.”  Come on, moms, we’ve all had those moments where we slip into the maturity level of our youngest child.  It’s actually pretty easy to do since I’m with that child all day long and so I’m naturally thinking on his level.  Anyhow, this made a LOT of sauce and I froze my leftovers for another day.  I would give this recipe 4 stars for taste and make sure to remedy the runniness next time.