Tomato sauce made from scratch is the best and it practically cooks itself. This Italian staple is so much better when made at home, whether you intend to use it on pasta, pizza or some delicious meatballs.
Basic tomato sauce requires no skills
Don’t buy tomato sauce in jars. Even if you are in a rush and consider yourself no chef, it is better value, better taste and better all round. The only chore involved is peeling and slicing a clove of garlic.
It is debatable if tomato sauce is tastier made from fresh tomatoes. The answer may be yes if the fruit is obscenely ripe and in abundance, but that doesn’t tend to happen north of Florence. Otherwise good quality tins are the way to go and some advice in that direction follows below.
What type of tinned tomatoes to use?
Pick a good brand: in the UK I can recommend Mutti and Italianavera (not sponsored). They are not cheap but when making a sauce quality matters because it’s the key ingredient. Arguably, in a chilli or even a paella other flavours will come to the fore but a sauce is the taste of the tomatoes.
San Marzano are usually considered the best variety of tomato for cooking because they are large and fleshy but if you find a variety/brand that you like the taste of, stick to it. Also, tins are much cheaper when bought in multipacks.
The tomatoes can be chopped or whole but I’d recommend tins of peeled ones. Bits of skin floating around in the sauce are not lovely.
How to make this easy tomato sauce?
Once you have a couple of tins of good tomatoes, it couldn’t be simpler. Get a large enough saucepan to contain the splatter that will occur, with a fitting lid.
Heat the olive oil in it and add the sliced garlic. Don’t let it colour, just gently sweat, before you add the tomatoes.
If they are whole, get your potato masher and crush them gently to a pulp.
Add the honey, tomato puree, pepperoncino flakes and basil sprigs, with a large pinch of salt and several grindings of a pepper mill. If you don’t have pepperoncino, use mild-ish chilli flakes.
Leave it covered to cook on medium heat for forty minutes or so, peeking in occasionally and stirring. When you can see it has reduced quite a bit and there is liquid accumulating on the surface, the sauce is ready. All you need to do now is taste for seasoning, adjust and it’s good to go.
What can you use tomato sauce for?
Pizza. Pasta. Meatballs. Enchiladas. Any vegetable gratin. Aubergine parmigiana. Lasagne and other pasta bakes. Baked beans and shakshuka. Try also baking a salmon or other fish fillets covered in the sauce. For that, you might want to add some chopped olives and a few capers.
It is a seriously good idea to make more tomato sauce than you need at a time, and freeze the surplus in practical portions.
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Smoky tomato butter with incredible flavour is a creamy spread, sauce, condiment, everything. The most gorgeous way to use a glut of summer cherry tomatoes.
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