Fresh Tomato Sauce
- Total Time
- 45 minutes
- Rating
- Comments
- Read comments
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Ingredients
- 1tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- 2 to 3garlic cloves, minced or thinly sliced (to taste)
- 3pounds ripe tomatoes, quartered if you have a food mill, peeled, seeded, and diced if you don’t
- ⅛teaspoon sugar
- 2sprigs of fresh basil, or 2 teaspoons fresh thyme leaves
- 1tablespoon slivered fresh basil
- Freshly ground pepper
Nutritional analysis per serving (5 servings)
78 calories; 3 grams fat; 0 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 2 grams monounsaturated fat; 1 gram polyunsaturated fat; 12 grams carbohydrates; 4 grams dietary fiber; 7 grams sugars; 3 grams protein; 14 milligrams sodium
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
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Preparation
- Step 1
In a wide, nonstick frying pan, or in a 3-quart saucepan, heat the oil over medium heat and add the garlic. Cook, stirring, just until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add the tomatoes, sugar, basil or thyme sprig, and salt (begin with ½ teaspoon and add more later), and bring to a simmer. Reduce the heat to medium low and simmer, stirring often, until thick. Pulpy tomatoes like romas will usually take 20 to 30 minutes. However, if the tomatoes are very juicy, it will take longer for them to cook down. The longer you cook the sauce, the sweeter it will be. You can speed up the process by turning up the heat, but stir often so the sauce doesn’t scorch. Towards the end of cooking, stir in the slivered fresh basil and some freshly ground pepper. Taste and adjust seasonings.
- Step 2
If using quartered tomatoes, put through the medium blade of a food mill. If you used peeled seeded tomatoes but want a sauce with a smooth, even texture, remove the basil sprigs and discard. Pulse the sauce in a food processor fitted with the steel blade.
Private Notes
Comments
I've now cooked this recipe a few times and love it every time. I tend not to like things too sweet, so leave out the sugar. I think it may also heighten the fresh taste of the tomatoes. On a lazy evening when I made this, I didn't want to go through the hassle of peeling and seeding tomatoes or cleaning my food processor, so I just used an immersion blender to get the sauce to the consistency I wanted. This is quickly becoming my go-to for homemade red sauce.
No peeling is necessary. Just quarter the fresh tomatoes and place them in the pot. I added 1 sliced large sauteed onion. Then apply the immersion blender after about 25 minutes. The peels melt away completely. Lovely, easy, perfect for the waning days of summer when there is a surfeit of fresh tomatoes on the vine.
Tripled recipe, i.e., 9lb fresh plum tomatoes, etc. Quartered tomatoes for food mill. Used fresh basil as written plus 3 bay leaves & dried marjoram. Also: parmesan rinds, carrot pieces (NO SUGAR). Simmer time closer to an 60 minutes to cook down to desired pulpy consistency. Cuisinart food mill, medium disc, lots of auxiliary pressing top and scraping bottom for full extraction. Good thick sauce texture, no skins, minimal seeds. 9lb tomatoes yielded 2+ quarts of finished sauce.
I love this recipe and make it whenever I have a little extra prep time. I did not find out until today how much better this sauce gets if you pop it in the fridge for a day or two! I’m going to make batches and batches every summer.
Some recipes say to use the food mill first to prep the tomatoes and this one says after—but you’d probably lose all the garlic (and if you used onions those too) if you do it after cooking. I could sauté onions and garlic to add after milling the cooked product since I like that texture but that seems wrong. I’m newer to food mills, so can someone advise the best way?
Tripled recipe, i.e., 9lb fresh plum tomatoes, etc. Quartered tomatoes for food mill. Used fresh basil as written plus 3 bay leaves & dried marjoram. Also: parmesan rinds, carrot pieces (NO SUGAR). Simmer time closer to an 60 minutes to cook down to desired pulpy consistency. Cuisinart food mill, medium disc, lots of auxiliary pressing top and scraping bottom for full extraction. Good thick sauce texture, no skins, minimal seeds. 9lb tomatoes yielded 2+ quarts of finished sauce.
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