• Wash the tomatoes.
• Bring a large pot of water to boil on the stove top.
• Place a small "X" in the bottom of each tomato and submerge in boiling water for 30 seconds.
• Immediately remove the tomatoes from the hot water and place in a bowl of ice water.
• Carefully pick up a tomato and begin to pull the outer layer of skin off. The outer layer of skin comes off very easily.
• Place the peeled tomatoes in a blender or food processor or you can roughly chop them by hand.
• Place the processed tomatoes into a slow cooker and cook on low for 4 to 6 hours. You can also cook them in a large stock pot on top of the stove for up to 2 hours depending again on how thick or thin you like your sauce.
• Cooking the tomatoes longer will give you a much thicker sauce.

How to Preserve Cooked Tomatoes

• Once your tomatoes have simmered down in the crock pot, you have two preservation options: the hot water bath method with sterilized jars, or freezing in airtight containers.
• Follow my instructions for Canning Marinara Sauce if you would like to process the tomatoes.