Search engines are filled with AI generated garbage. Please help.
You must log in or register to comment.
Anchovies are the secret ingredient to make it savory and delicious. Add one or two to your sauté at the beginning. The sauce will be way better and won’t taste like fish
I have two ways that i semi regularly use:
Onion fine dice, oil in pan, sweat onion till translucent, dice tomatoes, herbs incl garlic and chilli flakes in the oil for a short while(dealers choice), tomatoes in, lid on for 10min, lid off until you’re at the right consistency, salt, maybe add sugar if not sweet enough.
Same ingredients in a glass backing dish, oven at 180°C for 35+ mins.
I don’t care to remove tomato skins so I never do.
https://memoriediangelina.com/2012/04/22/tomato-sauce-101/
The whole site is a goldmine.
Start by sauteeing some onions in olive oil, with tomato paste if you have it. When they start to get translucent add some diced garlic and cook for a minute. You could also have some celery and carrots in the initial sauté with the onions.
At this point you can put in the tomatoes, and cook a bit then mash them up, with some water if they’re not that juicy. Some people like to peel the tomatoes… That means put them in a pan of boiling water after scoring them on a few sides, and then taking them out after a minute or two and removing the peels, then putting them into the sauce. I don’t do this. I just remove the peels after the sauce has been cooking for a while.
Add some salt. I find them my sauce tastes a lot better if I add a quarter cup or so of red wine such as Merlot or Cabernet Sauvignon. If you don’t have that, some red wine vinegar helps to stoke the acidity. Sometimes I throw in some onion chunks, some mushrooms, and you should at some point probably add some herbs like garlic and basil.
Some recipes say to simmer for a really short time like 20 or 30 minutes. I prefer doing it for quite a while, like a few hours, which deepens the flavor and caramelizes the tomatoes for sweetness. One thing that I found I like is to cook it on the range in a Dutch oven for half an hour, and then put it in the oven at about 325 for a couple hours. That makes a really thick sauce. Just be sure if you do it on the range top to stir it often.
If you have a blow torch, use that on the tomato skins instead, then use a paper towel to rub the skin off. Not that it matters for a sauce recipe, but it doesn’t cook the outer flesh like boiling does. Great for pico and other fresh tomato preparations.
Or use cherry tomatoes and the skins become less of a problem. To mass cut cherry tomatoes, put your tomatoes on a plate put another plate over them and run your knife through the seam.
Oh, a small pinch of red pepper when you’re cooking down your aromatics is a great way to add more depth to your sauce. Especially useful if you don’t have wine on hand.
blow torch!? Just blanch them and peel the skins lol for pico just leave the skins on
Some people like to peel the tomatoes… That means put them in a pan of boiling water after scoring them on a few sides, and then taking them out after a minute or two and removing the peels, then putting them into the sauce. I don’t do this. I just remove the peels after the sauce has been cooking for a while.
You can also just fuck it all up with an immersion blender, too.
My partner has a sensory issue with tomatoes, and anything that has a chunk of tomato big enough to feel has to be blended into oblivion.
Gotta say, I have started liking salsa more…
Finally, some sense.
Cut your tomatoes in half, put flat side down in pan. The tomatoes will cook in their own juices and after like 5 minutes the skins basically fall off. You can pull them off with a fork or something and then mash em.
Pro tip if you hate extra work and planning. Freeze the tomatoes fully. Then let them thaw a bit. Skins peel right off. This messes up the texture of the tomatoes, but is inconsequential for a sauce.
This a great start and I’d just throw in, if you’re the parent of a small picky eater or just want to get more veggies in your life. I like to grate in all sorts of other veggies like broccoli, zucchini, spinach, carrots, just go nuts, because tomatoes have such a strong flavour your blander veggies go right in and if you grate it fine enough just dissolve so kids done see or taste them but all the good stuff still gets in.
kids done see or taste them
Do not trust this though, if the kids are neurodivergent. If the picky eating is because of sensory issues, they might still notice, so be very careful with the amounts and types of vegetables. If they notice you are trying to trick them into eating something, that might damage their trust very deeply, and that causes all sorts of issues in long term. And they might refuse to eat the type of sauce again (or even all sauces you make), even if it does not have the veggies added.
That depends what you’re cooking, I guess. I end up making lasagna or manicotti, and that could include any number of vegetables etc. If it will be served on plain noodles, adding veggies to the sauce itself sounds like a good idea.
Unless you follow the advice of cooking the sauce for a couple of hours, after which all that will be left of the veggies will be basically fiber.
To be fair, when cooking a sauce (or stew, soup etc.), some of the nutrients will enter the sauce (vs. cooking water that will later be thrown away), but preserving nutrients / vitamins etc. while cooking still means reducing heat / cooking time.
Please don’t cook vegetables to oblivion and assume this will fulfill your kids nutritional needs. Not talking about you in particular, just making sure here.
you forgot the garlic that needs to be put in just at the end
I throw things in at random throughout the process, really
That depends on what sort of garlic flavor you want.
The Alicin in garlic does break down with time and heat, but that allows other parts of the garlic flavor to come forward.
Well we already had garlic added twice:
When they start to get translucent add some diced garlic and cook for a minute
and you should at some point probably add some herbs like garlic and basil
There should already be plenty of the sweet garlic flavours, lets add a bit of garlic sharpness as well
/me likes garlic
Huh, I usually don’t add tomato paste until the very end. Else it burns on the bottom of the pan
Burned tomato paste is delicious though. Burn it.
When using jarred sauce I usually first brown some tomato paste in olive oil, maybe with an anchovy or two. Then a half bottle of wine and let it reduce. Then the jarred sauce and let it all simmer together while the pasta cooks.
Why would it burn on the bottom of the pan? You sauté with the other stuff, then it gets throughly mixed in. The way I learned was it needs to be sautéed a bit. I guess adding it later would work about as well, idk.
Don’t need search engines for this. Martha Stewart has got you covered.
Sometimes the simpler the better. KISS. https://www.31daily.com/worlds-best-pasta-sauce/
5 TABLESPOONS of butter? Jesus. That looks awful.
Browned butter tomato sauce is absolutely delicious.
1 Medium onion, a mother fucking PINCH of salt… And 5, unholy, table spoons of butter.
I’m not even sure Olive Garden would serve this.
Why do you thunk restaurant food tastes so good?
It is surprisingly good. Personally we dice the onions and leave them in, and make sure to use San Marzano tomatoes if you can, but the recipe is solid regardless.
OP said fresh tomatoes, not canned.
Still works. Figure out how to peel them (easy way is to toss in boiling water for a few seconds+), dice them up, then use the recipe.
Sure but if OP knew that they wouldn’t have asked. Also it works better if you score an x before dunking them in the boiling water for 30 seconds
Even better if you just use a blow torch and paper towel. Why use all the energy to boil water you’re likely going to toss, to reboil more water for your pasta.
Um, I don’t have a blowtorch and I’d hesitate to use it on a paper towel unless as kindling, but tell me this method in a little more detail.
Also I haven’t had pasta in a year or more but I do love a good tomato-based sauce for my stupid cauliflower, or just to eat by itself.
I usually make quick sauces with my pasta and use whole canned peeled tomatoes. To alter for fresh, I’d score the tomatoes with a knife, then blanch and peel the skin off as the first step.
My default tomato-based sauce is:
- olive oil
- a few whole tomatoes (peeled) – maybe about ~3 decently sized ones?
- garlic (either fresh minced or garlic powder)
- dried basil
- salt
- 1/4 tsp or so of capers
- a few kalamata olives
- pinch of MSG
- pinch of cayenne pepper
When using fresh garlic, I add it to the pan first – with garlic powder I add it with the other seasonings. I basically just combine everything, break up the tomatoes with a spatula, and let it cook down on medium heat (stirring occasionally) while I boil my spaghetti – then finish the spaghetti in the sauce.
I usually make this just for myself and eyeball the ingredients – so unfortunately, I don’t have exact measurements for most of it.
This is basically a variant of spaghetti puttanesca without anchovies – feel free to add those instead of (or in addition to) the MSG if you’d prefer.
No, don’t add anchovies. For God’s sake
They made a fairly standard puttanesca sauce. That’s a fucking great sauce to know how to do.
Anchovies add excellent umami to a good tomato sauce. Quite a small amount is used and the fishy flavour is undetectable in the final product when done right. But to e0qdks point, MSG is an ok substitute if its that big of a dealbreaker.
Do everything in the first paragraph in the nicely detailed guide by Zeppo, then instead put the tomatoes whole into a blender, (even the stalks fuck it, coz they’re filled with goodness) chuck some tomato paste, a little vinegar some sugar, water and pepper and blend the fuck out of it. I like lots paprika in mine. When putting it in the pan cook for as long and slow as possible. At least an hour if you can spare the time. Plum tinned tomatoes are probably the best, but i know you asked about fresh.
Never a good idea to eat green parts of the nightshade family
Ooooh, maybe not the stems. It won’t kill you but they’re high in alkaloids that can cause digestive issues. Your recipe sounds like mine, but I finish by wilting just a bit of spinach in it for colour and those good vitamins, minus the toilet tax.
Sounds odd, but i love the smell of the stems. To me they smell more of tomato’s than the actual fruit itself so I just blend it in! Personally never had an issue.
You be careful with those stems. I agree they smell better than the tomatoes themselves but they could make someone sick.
A thought: Garnish it with a stem on the side of the plate and take a whiff with each bite. Pinky finger up, because this is Sophisticated Cuisine.
Ok will do, I admit I only ever do this for myself!
I think I will try it myself next time I cook tomatoes, even canned ones. I have a scraggly grape-tomato vine with only enough fruit on it to give one a day to my turtle, but I could cut a fresh sprig for maximum scent.
That’s how you get orange tomato sauce
My wife says it’s like vodka sauce lol
I’ve never made a tomato sauce specifically, but ime with sauces - water is the enemy in the final product. So be sure to cook it a lot to get enough water out to make it nicely thick
Adding to the other commenters’ fantastic explanations, some minor tips:
Spices: basil, oregano, a quarter handful of bay leaves, thyme. Cover the whole pot with a generous layer of each, then stir in. If it gets too acidic, add a tiny dash of sugar. Beyond that is chef’s creativity, make it your own.
Time: A decent sauce is 3ish hours. Great sauces are all-day sauces. The best sauces are all-day sauces that are re-simmered for half an hour or so the next day.
Extra: Homemade sauce stores really well. Toss leftovers in a container in the freezer. Will last you a couple months at least.
Remove the bay leaf before eating
Oh, right. Definitely a bay leaf or two.
Very first result from a basic search: all recipes…com
For just about any basic, check with America’s Test Kitchen
Their cookbook is $20 all day long, and is packed with tons of foundational information and well-tested recipes.
Every beginning cook should have it.
- Sell tomatoes.
- Use money to buy pasta sauce.
- …
- Profit!
Peel them, crush them up, heat while adding spices, simmer until it can coat the back of a spoon without sliding off.
For a better sauce, begin sauteeing onion in butter or olive oil until fragrant, add garlic, also cook until fragrant. If making meat sauce, brown the meat with the onions and garlic at this time. Drain the fat, then start adding and crushing the tomato, as well as your spices.