Easy Tomato Sauce
Easy Tomato Sauce
Are you ever in a situation when your garden produces too many tomatoes or your neighbor drops off a large bag of tomatoes and you have no idea what to do with it?
No need to fear, easy tomato sauce is here! The great thing about tomato sauce is it is versatile to use in many food dishes (such as pasta, pizza, lasagna, casseroles, etc.), and you can also make revisions throughout the cooking process, so it meets your taste preferences!
Devices needed:
• Blender or food processor
• Paring knife and Chef’s knife (to remove tomato stems and to dice garlic)
• Measuring spoons
• Large cooking pot
• Strainer (to easily wash the tomatoes and optional strain of seeds/water)
• Storage containers (such as mason jars, plastic containers with a lid, or other storage container of your choice).
Ingredients needed:
• ~2.2 pounds of tomatoes
• 3-4 bulbs garlic
• 4 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 2 teaspoons dried basil (or 4 tablespoons chopped fresh basil)
• 1-2 teaspoons red chili flakes
• ½ to 1 teaspoon crushed black pepper
• Optional 1 teaspoon sugar of your choice (helps balance flavors)
• Optional ¼ to 1 teaspoon salt (helps balance flavors)
INSTRUCTIONS:
1. Rinse and de-stem as “many” ripe tomatoes that you like. I typically use 2.2 lbs of tomatoes (or 1000 grams).
Place whole tomatoes in blender or food processor, a few at a time, until a puree is formed.
TIP 1: You can remove the seeds if you want to speed up the process of cooking. I use the whole tomato and let the sauce simmer longer until it thickens.
TIP 2: To save time, you can peal the garlic bulbs the day before you make the sauce and store them in a container in the fridge.
2. Chop up finely about 3-4 bulbs of garlic (from TIP 2 above stock). Heat olive oil in the bottom of your pot and add the chopped garlic. Sauté the garlic until you can smell it (1-2 two minutes at medium heat). Add the red chili flakes in with the garlic.
3. Pour the tomato puree into the pot and stir. Cover the pot and cook on low to medium heat for about 15 minutes.
Note: If like me, you used the whole tomato (you didn’t remove the seeds), you will need to uncover the pot and cook it on low for 30-60+ minutes until the liquid evaporates off and the sauce begins to thicken (then proceed to step 4).
4. Once sauce begins to thicken, add oregano, black pepper, basil, and optional sugar and salt and cook for an additional 5 minutes until the sauce thickens. Conduct a taste test to determine if you need to add any more of these ingredients to meet your taste preferences.
Note: Make sure to use a clean spoon each time you do a taste test.
5. Let sauce the cool (not in the hot pot so it cools quicker), and transfer to storage containers (such as a mason jar or plastic storage container with a tight fitting lid).
Note: If stored in the fridge, use within 2 weeks.
Note: If stored in the freezer, use within 3 months.
Happy eats from TDWOLF Nutrition!
