Wanted: Your Favorite Homemade Tomato Sauce Recipe

[keeganm]

Hello all,

I would love to have an incredible homemade-simmer for hours- tastes like it came from Italy- make in huge batches and freeze -- you-know-what-I-mean kind of sauces maybe one of your Italian (or not Italian) grandmothers has a secret recipe that you want to share with all of us? I always try to whip up a quick pasta sauce that usually doesn't turn out all that spectacular, and I don't mind taking the time to make a huge pot of it to stick in the freezer (...hmmm....foodsaver comes to mind....) Anyone? Anyone?

Ok, if you don't have the above, that's ok, your favorite sauce, whatever it is would be great too! :D

[BosunsWife]

I make a basic sauce that you can then doctor up with peppers, onions or whatever you are in the mood for. In fact, I whipped up a batch today thinking I would make baked spaghetti, but DH told me he wanted Zippy's Chili and Rice for dinner (UGHH).

Two 28oz cans of italian tomatoes (plum tomatoes)
1/4 c. olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
2Tbl. chopped fresh parsley


Puree the tomatoes (blender, boat motor or food processor). Saute garlic in olive oil, dump in pureed tomatoes, garlic and fresh parsley. Bring to a simmer, add 1 tsp. kosher salt and pepper to taste. Simmer a half an hour.

Now, that is the regular recipe for it. I kind of play around with it depending on what is in the pantry. This morning I didn't have fresh parsley so I used two teaspoons of dried. Sometimes I don't have plum tomatoes and will just use regular ones. Its pretty adaptable.

I always cook it down until its pretty thick. Generally simmer on low for at least two - three hours. Its great as a marinara sauce, pizza topper, etc. If I were going to use it with spaghetti, I would add some oregano, basil, onion and peppers.

I think its just a great all around sauce that you can dress up or down. Since DH wants chili for dinner tonight, I divided it into three 3 cup portions and put it in the freezer for later consumption.

[brendat4]

Hi! There was a thread on this a couple of weeks ago. You can find results of that at
http://www.cookinglight.com/vbb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=11934&highlight=tomato+sauce

Anyway, I posted that we think the Tomato Sauce from Cooking Light's April 2000 issue is excellent! Here's a little of what I wrote (modified a bit):

Last year, after more than 6 years of marriage my husband one day told me that my homemade tomato sauce was not his favorite. I think it's because he saw me putting sugar in it and that bothered him. I was crushed as this was what my mom made (and she's half Italian) and he'd always eaten it before!

So I was on a quest to find a new sauce that satisfied us both. Along came the CL "cooking class" series with April highlighting how to make sauces. I tried their Tomato Sauce and it was a huge hit! I think it is the combination of bell peppers, onions and garlic that make it taste so good. It is the only thing I make now and it is SOOOOO easy! I usually make up a bunch to have on hand in the freezer. It only takes 45 minutes so it's not exactly the "simmer all day" kind of sauce you were requesting but I've gotten lots of compliments on it since I started making it.

If you don't have access to that issue (or the CL Annual book) let me know and I'll post the recipe here when I get a chance.

[Angela]

I have a ton of tomatoes in the garden and want to use them to make sauce (that's part of the reason so many were planted). However, I've not been able to find any recipes for sauce that use fresh tomatoes.

Is it possible to use a recipe that calls for canned or does anyone have a recipe using fresh?
TIA

[Alisa]

I don't have a written down sauce recipe - I jut start with onions & garlic (as most good recipes do!) and add peppers, tomatoes and herbs & spices until it's the right consistancy and flavour. One trick I learned a few years ago is to add a drop of milk or cream just before serving - it takes away that "acidic" taste and makes it so much richer. The fresher the tomatoes, the less dairy needed!

[sneezles]

Angela,
It is possible to use fresh tomatoes. However, most Italian sauces use plum tomatoes (aka. Romas) as they are more "meaty" than regular tomatoes. If using fresh you would need to peel and seed or run through a sieve or Foley mill. 3 Pounds of fresh is equal to a 2-pound, 3-ounce can.

The recipe I use is this one:

3 pounds very ripe plum tomatoes, peeled, seeded, and diced
3 garlic cloves, each clove sliced into 3 pieces
2 tbs good olive oil
1 tsp salt
a very liberal amount of fresh ground black pepper
1 tbs sweet dried basil (or 3 tbs fresh, chopped)

Heat the oil in a deep frypan and simmer over low heat with the garlic until the garlic is brown (do not burn). Flatten the garlic and swirl around; remove and discard.

Add the tomatoes all at once being careful not to splatter oil. Add the salt and pepper and basil. Simmer over low flame/heat, stirring frequently. Continue cooking until the sauce thickens and water (from tomatoes) has evaporated.

This sauce freezes well and the recipe makes 7 cups.

[Angela]

...for the tip. I'm copying the recipe right now! Sounds great!!

[Leanne]

I'm pretty similar to others -

canned diced tomatoes (or fresh)
onion diced
garlic minced
red pepper diced
red wine vinegar
sugar
fresh basil
black pepper
salt if you use fresh tomatoes

cook it all together - very good. The red wine vinegar adds alot. When we have red wine that doesn't get finished (what a sin I know!), I keep the bottle & use it instead of store bought. It has much more flavor.