Simple Tomato Sauce
wow your tastebuds with this simple tomato sauce they will have you saying “I’ll never buy jarred sauce again! Unless I want to!”
Ah, the tomato. The fruit disguised as a veggie. Tomatoes and I have a flavor love affair going back a long time. I love every variety of tomato, in all its forms. My particular favorites are roasted grape tomatoes (seriously, they are like candy), fried green tomatoes, and a tomato sandwich with thinly sliced heirloom tomatoes, mayo, and a HINT of S&P. On white bread. It’s gotta be white bread.
But tomato sauce is on another plane for me. I legit probably do a 1:1 ratio of pasta to sauce. Because they are equally delish to me.
But here’s the thing, and maybe you can relate to this - tomatoes give me heartburn. When I realized quite a few years ago that jarred tomato sauce had way too much acid in it for me, I needed to find a different approach if I wanted to continue to enjoy my PERFECT ratio of pasta to sauce.
So I decided to investigate how to make a simple, go-to tomato sauce that I could make in batches and always have on hand. Now, I have zero guidance on this. I’m Irish, English, and German by descent. I never had a grandma that taught me her secret tomato sauce. So I was kind of on my own. But I knew I wanted it to be simple, and something I could whip up in a pinch if I needed to. I’m posting both a “long” and “short” version of this recipe because while it is a simple recipe, if tomatoes are in season I highly recommend you do the fresh version. But I’m a wife and a mom, so sometimes you gotta work with the time constraints you have, and there ain’t no shame in canned tomatoes.
This recipe is fresh tasting, low on the acid scale, and, most importantly, flexible! I hope you enjoy it as much my family does.
Ingredients:
10-12 roma tomatoes (or a 28 oz can of whole tomatoes)
2 TBSP olive oil
1 carrot, roughly chopped
1 onion, roughly chopped
1 sweet red pepper, roughly chopped
2 TBSP garlic
2 TBSP Italian seasoning
S& P to taste
(optional) 1/4 cup parm cheese
Step 1: Prep Tomatoes (or don’t)
Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Prep an ice bath for the tomatoes. Score tomatoes along the bottom with an “x'“. Once water is boiling, drop your tomatoes in and blanch for 2 minutes. Remove tomatoes with a slotted spoon into the ice bath. Let them cool while you prep your other ingredients.
Step 2: Sauté Veggies
Dump the water from your pot out (no need to use multiple pots if you don’t have to!), place back on burner on medium and add olive oil. Add carrot, onion, and red pepper. Sauté at least 5-7 minutes until onions are translucent, but I personally like to cook them a bit longer until slightly browned. I find it makes the sauce sweeter and less acidic. Add garlic and cook for an additional 1 min. Remove from heat and let cool.
Step 3: Add tomatoes and let the magic happen
Once you remove your veggies from the burner, place colander on top of the pot. Now it’s time to get your hands dirty. Remove each tomato from the ice bath, peel and deseed them over the colander. (This is where the scoring pays off - stick your fingers in the score, bust that tomato open, and scrape the seeds out!). And you can throw those skins and seeds straight into the colander. You want to collect that extra water from the tomatoes.
Place the cleaned tomatoes underneath the colander into the pot as you go, or place them on a plate and add them once you’re done cleaning all the tomatoes. Once your tomatoes are in the pot with the other veggies, add your Italian seasoning, and some S& P.
Cover and cook on low for at least 30 min so all the veggies can become friends.
Step 4: Puree (or don’t)
If you’d like to, now the time to add any cheese(s) and to hit your sauce with that immersion blender/blender/food processor to your liking. I like my sauce really smooth, but whatever floats your boat.
