How To Make Basic Tomato Sauce

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Recipes for tomato sauce are not what are missing! There are as many homemade tomato sauce recipes as there are people who cook around the world!
That’s why I propose a basic recipe for homemade tomato sauce for any custom use.

The secret of a good tomato sauce is the cooking time: it should be long, at least 3 to 4 hours for me. To accomplish this, it’s better to use fresh tomatoes because they are much more juicy and delicious. Believe me, it makes a big difference when talking about a real homemade tomato sauce! When tomatoes are off season, you can use some canned, crushed, peeled tomatoes.

Ingredients list for Tomato Sauce recipe

• 2 tbsp (30 ml) of olive oil
• 7 ounces (200 g) of onions
• 1 ounce (30g) of tomato concentrate
• 2 1/2 lbs (1, 2 kg) of fresh tomatoes, or canned, crushed, peeled tomatoes
• 1 clove garlic
• A bouquet garni: parsley stems, thyme and bay leaf
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• Water

Remarks:
You can add diced carrot and celery.
You can also use basil, tarragon, oregano…

Cooking instructions: Homemade Tomato Sauce

1. Chop the onion as shown here. Crush the degermed garlic clove cut in half with the flat of a knife.

2. Peel the tomatoes using this technique. Crush them and set aside in a large bowl.

3. Make a bouquet garni.

4. Sauté chopped onions until lightly browned over low heat.

5. Add the tomato paste and stir.

6. Cook over low heat, stirring every few moments.

7. Add the tomatoes, bouquet garni and garlic. Add about 1/2 liter of water. Add sugar.

Note: Be careful with the classic seasoning, as the sauce will reduce. If the sauce is properly seasoned before reduction, it will be too much after reduction.

Bring sauce to a low boil and cook over low boil, covered, for 3 to 4 hours.
Stir regularly to prevent the tomato sauce from catching in the bottom.

Remarks: Here I use a lid which has small holes, allowing slow evaporation. For cooking over low heat, I use a heat diffuser (here are some examples of heat diffusers on Amazon).

8. When sauce is cooked, remove the bouquet garni.

9. Once the tomato sauce is cooked, you have several solutions:

• Leave it as it is, which can be done when using fresh tomatoes, and we add the diced carrot and celery. But with canned tomatoes, there is still a little skin and seeds so you can filter it before use.
• Mix the sauce and pass it through a chinois strainer which produces a tomato coulis.
• Use a potato crusher which provides a bit of a “rustic” texture.

Then you can book your homemade tomato sauce for later use: pizzas, pasta, bolognese sauces, ratatouilles… you can even freeze you tomato sauce!

Also Read: How to Make Palmier Cookies (Elephant Ear Cookies)