Tomato Sauce
This is a basic tomato sauce that is really easy to make with a little prep work. I use this as a base for spaghetti sauce, pizza sauce, and more.
Ingredients
- 4 pounds ripe roma tomatoes
- 4 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 large sweet onion peeled and diced
- 2 tablespoons fresh minced garlic
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 2 tablespoons fresh chopped basil
Instructions
- Using a sharp knife, cut a ¼-inch deep X on one end of each tomato. Place the tomatoes in a large, freezer-safe bag, and freeze overnight.
- The next day, move the tomatoes from the freezer bag to a colander, and let tomatoes defrost and drain excess water.
- Remove tomato peels, which should slide off easily. Core the tomatoes, removing any excess seeds. Chop tomatoes into smaller pieces.
- Dice the large sweet onion and mince fresh garlic. Add to a large pot with the olive oil in the bottom, and cook for 2 to 3 minutes.
- Add the tomatoes, salt, and sugar to the pot. Reduce heat to low and simmer for 2 hours, stirring occasionally and mashing tomatoes until the sauce is no longer watery.
- Taste and add additional seasoning if necessary.
- Transfer sauce to a blender, and blend until the sauce reaches your desired consistency.
- Stir in basil before serving.
Notes
I like to double or even triple this recipe when tomatoes are on sale or when I have a lot of tomatoes from my summer gardens. I portion the sauce into one cup Souper Cubes and store in the freezer.
If you don’t have time to pre-freeze the tomatoes, add the tomatoes with an X cut to a pot of boiling water for one minute, remove and let the tomatoes cool until you can handle them. Peel off the skins and core the tomatoes, then add to the pot. There will be excess water in your sauce, so you need to bring the sauce to a boil, and then simmer to remove excess water.
Crockpot: Sauce can also be made in a slow cooker! Follow the instructions up to step 4, and add all the ingredients except basil to the slow cooker. Set the cooker to high and check on the sauce once an hour. It is ready to be blended when there is no excess water on the surface. Add basil before serving.
Save your tomato skin and make tomato paste powder! Dehydrate the skins for 8 hours at 149°F until crispy. Grind into a fine powder and store in an airtight container. Add water in a 1:1 ratio to reconstitute and mix until smooth.