There are all kinds of commercial sauces available for pasta, and they all have one thing in common: THEY SUCK! Generally, they are too sweet, too watery, and too ketchup-like. And if you’re really unlucky, it will have all kinds of things that should never be in sauce-from-a-jar, like eggplant or parmesan. I mean, really? Parmesan cheese IN a tomato sauce? Barfalicious!
So needless to say, I make my own. And here’s the recipe.
Okay, I lied. There are actually three recipes. One is for sauce-from-scratch, using only fresh ingredients. The second is for a slightly quicker version that’s still pretty much “home made.” The third is just a jazzed up passata, which, believe me, is still about a billion steps up from crap like this or this or this, even though it can be whipped up in a few minutes.
D.I.Y. tomato sauce
(1 to 2 hours)
- 1 kg/ 2 pounds tomatoes (the tastiest you can get – I like to mix a few beefsteak tomatoes and a juicy, sweet variety, such as pomodoro or Tasty Tom), peeled, deseeded and chopped
- 1 medium sweet onion, finely chopped
- 1 small carrot, finely chopped or grated
- 1/2 rib celery, finely chopped
- 2 to 3 cloves garlic, finely chopped or pressed
- 1 or 2 tablespoons tomato puree
- 1/2 to 1 glass of red wine
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- balsamic vinegar
- sugar
- salt & pepper
- olive oil
Heat a few tablespoons of olive oil in a pot over medium/low heat. Add onion and cook, uncovered, until soft but not brown (DO NOT LET IT BROWN!), about 10 minutes. Add carrot and celery and sweat for a few more minutes, about 5. Add the garlic and the oregano and sweat some more, about 5 minutes, making sure the garlic doesn’t burn. Add enough red wine to stop the cooking process and let the alcohol evaporate.
Add the tomatoes, together with no more than 1 tablespoon of tomato paste, and if the tomatoes aren’t very juicy, go ahead and add a little bit of water too. Bring everything to a boil, reduce heat as low as it can go, and simmer until the tomatoes have disintegrated into a thick sauce. It should be very fragrant, with an intense tomato flavor. This should take no less than an hour, and up to 2 hours.
Elevate the taste of the sauce by adding a splash of balsamic vinegar and a bit of sugar, together with some salt and pepper. Keep adding a bit of each until you’re happy with the flavor. Finish with a few tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil.
Use the sauce as is, or add it to cooked mushrooms, eggplant, ground beef, or whatever takes your fancy. Alternatively, jazz it up with fresh herbs, cream, or cheese.
D. most of I.Y tomato sauce:
(30 to 45 minutes)
- 1 pound juicy, sweet tomatoes (such as Tasty Tom or cherry tomatoes), roughly chopped
- 1 smallish onion, finely chopped
- 2 cloves garlic, chopped or pressed
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- a splash of red wine
- 1 sundried tomato, reconstituted in 1/2 cup hot water, chopped (water preserved)
- 1 to 1 1/2 cups passata
- balsamic vinegar
- sugar
- salt & pepper
- olive oil
Sweat the onions for about 10 minutes in the oil over medium/low heat until soft but not brown. Add garlic, sundried tomato and oregano and cook for a few more minutes, making sure the garlic doesn’t burn. Add a splash of wine and the tomato soaking water, let the alcohol cook off, and add the tomatoes. Bring to a boil, turn down heat, and simmer for half an hour. Puree the sauce with a handheld blender or in some kind of countertop blenderizing machine.
This is your basic sauce, but it isn’t very much and a bit fibrous from the tomato skins. So add some passata and mix well. Elevate the taste of the sauce by adding a splash of balsamic vinegar and a bit of sugar, together with some salt and pepper. Keep adding a bit of each until you’re happy with the flavor. Finish with a few tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil.
Pretend that you D.’d I.Y. tomato sauce
(10-15 minutes)
- 1 smallish onion, finely chopped
- 2 cloves garlic, chopped or pressed
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- a splash of red wine
- 1 package (2 to 3 cups) passata
- balsamic vinegar
- sugar
- salt & pepper
- olive oil
weat the onions for about 10 minutes in the oil over medium/low heat until soft but not brown. Add garlic, sundried tomato and oregano and cook for a few more minutes, making sure the garlic doesn’t burn. Add a splash of wine, let the alcohol cook off. Add the passata and heat through. Elevate the taste of the sauce by adding a splash of balsamic vinegar and a TINY bit of sugar (passata is usually quite sweet already), together with some salt and pepper. Keep adding a bit of each until you’re happy with the flavor. Finish with a few tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil.