What is the best way to make tomato sauce?

Answer 1

Buy a food mill. This is not a food processor. It will take the skin and seeds out of the tomato for you and leave you with puree. Other than that. Olive oil sliced garlic. Some shallots.
Carmelize them and add the puree and some tomato paste to thicken. Check the acidity and if it's too high add sweetener to cut.

Food mill. Great investment.

Answer 2

I like to make roasted tomato sauce. Just cut tomatoes in half and put them on a sheet pan. Drizzle olive oil over them, sprinkle on salt and pepper, and any other seasonings you like (oregano, parsley, basil, etc.). Roast them in a 350 degree oven for 4-5 hours. About half-way through the roasting, the tomatoes will be soft enough to remove the peels if you don't like them. After the time is finished, you can either chop the tomatoes and add a can of tomato puree, or you can put the roasted tomatoes in a food processor (I prefer the latter). Additionally, you could roast some red peppers with your tomatoes and puree them all together, for a spicier version.

Answer 3

Here's a quick and easy recipe--one that I inherited from my beloved Italian mother and then added my own special ingredients. Enjoy!

If you're using meat, then brown 1 pound of hamburger meat in 2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil along with 1 or 2 minced garlic cloves. As the meat is cooking, you'll need 1 large can of Roma tomatoes. Place in blender (or you can crush the whole tomatoes by fork or hand), and puree it. Once that is done, pour the tomato sauce into the meat mixture. Combine. Then take a handful of fresh basil--chop it if you like or leave whole. Then add a handful of Parmesan cheese (the good stuff, not in a can) and stir that in there. (If you don't care for the cheese, omit it.) Salt and pepper to taste. Stir and simmer the sauce for about 30-40 minutes--no longer!

Incidentally, the key is using Roma tomatoes--I use Trader Joe's brand canned tomatoes--fabulous!

Answer 4

I am Italian from Milan and this is how I make it

Sautee some garlic or onion in a spoon of EXTRA virgin olive oil depending on what you prefer. Poor some chopped tomatoes (better the cherry or San Marzano) if from supermarket choose the non salt diced tomatoes (the more natural they are the better they taste). Let them cook on a slow medium temperature for about 20 minutes and in the meantime chop some fresh basil. Add a pinch of salt and in case the tomatoes are too acidic add just a tiny pinch of sugar. Stir once in a while. Turn off the fire and add fresh basil and chili pepper flake if you like it spicy. Poor it on your pasta and add some fresh olive oil again. Ciao !

Answer 5

I prefer the long method. I finely chop my garlic, onions, carrots, celery, red/green peppers and saute them in the bottom of the gallon pot in olive oil salt and pepper. After the onions are lightly browned I add about 4 cans of tomato sauce and 4 cans of chopped tomatos. Use all sauce if you don't like chunky sauce. I use a ton of veggies to make it tasty! Then I stir in 1 can of tomato paste and leave it on low heat for about 4 hours. I check it regularly to see that it is simmering, not boiling, and test the flavor in the last hour where I will add salt or sugar depending on what it needs.

I think this recipe is a great way to sneak veggies onto plates because it's so tasty you cannot tell there's carrots, celery, peppers in there. You just need to make sure they are finely chopped, nearly pureed. And I rarely add sugar, DON'T add any if cooking for diabetics.

I'd cook this entire thing 4-6 hours, if adding meat I prefer to do it in a seperate quart sized pot and simmer sauce with cooked meat for about an hour, leaving some sauce completely meat free.

Answer 6

I make a raw tomato sauce. 1 can chopped tomatoes, As much garlic, basil , oregano as you like. Mix and cover. Keep in the fridge over night. Take it out about 2 hours before you boil your pasta. Pour your pasta in. It is delicious. I hope you try it.

Answer 7

Tomato Sauce

2 tablespoons olive or vegetable oil
1 large onion, chopped
1 (15-ounce) can tomato sauce
1 (6-ounce) can tomato paste
1/2 cup dry red wine
1 teaspoon dry oregano leaves
1 teaspoon dry basil leaves
Salt to taste

1. Heat oil in a wide frying pan over medium heat; add onion and cook, stirring often, until softened, about 5 minutes.
2. Stir in tomato sauce, tomato paste, wine, oregano and basil. Bring to a simmer; then simmer, uncovered, for 10 minutes. Season to taste with salt.

Makes about 4 cups sauce.

Answer 8

Saute' 2 cloves of garlic in 2 tbsp olive oil in a large pot (low heat) for only a minute. Do not brown garlic.
Then add about 2- 15 oz cans of crushed tomato's-simmer with the top on for about 2 hours. Add salt to your taste and 1 tbsp Italian spices.
For real Italian, cook meat separately and have on table along with the sauce and pasta.

Answer 9

looks like you got tons of answers here! Well, I won't write out my recipe for you because it's about the same as most of the others on here. *side note* I love Alton Brown so I'd try his first! Anyway, some advice for all these recipes is don't be afraid to experiment. If you like sweet onions, try Vidalia's instead of white... try some extra garlic. Try white wine instead of red. Try a little of both. Use more basil and less oregano. Add a little sugar. Just keep tweeking all these recipes until you find one that's perfect for you. Just make sure to write it down so you can duplicate it in the future!

Answer 10

I cut plum tomatoes in half and squeeze out the seeds, then I place them in an oven prof glass or ceramic dish and bake for about 2 hours at 300. Then I just put them in a pot and puree with a hand blender. I leave the skins on because they have licopene in them.

Answer 11

Here is a recipe from Alton Brown that I have been using. It is really really good.

Tomato Sauce


20 Roma tomatoes, halved and seeded
1/4 cup olive oil
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon pepper
1 cup finely diced onion
2 teaspoons minced garlic
1 tablespoon finely chopped oregano leaves
1 tablespoon finely chopped thyme leaves
1 cup white wine

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.
In 2 (13 by 9-inch) pans place tomato halves cut side up. Sprinkle with oil, salt and pepper, onion, garlic, and herbs. Bake tomatoes for 2 hours. Check the tomatoes after 1 hour and turn down the heat if they seem to be cooking too quickly. Then turn the oven to 400 degrees and bake another 30 minutes. Remove from the oven and process tomatoes through a food mill on medium dye setting over a small saucepan. Discard skins. Add white wine, bring to a boil, reduce heat to low and cook for 5 minutes.