homemade tomato sauce.
I kind of hate when people insist that scratch-made food is better than store-bought. It’s way easier to buy a jar of marinara sauce, and is it really that different? Depends on the circumstance.
The truth is, though, that scratch-made tomato sauce is good. Like life-changingly good. Everyone should make tomato sauce from scratch at least once in their lives, if only just for a special occasion — but if you make it once, chances are you’ll want to keep making it again and again.
Some things to know
The best tomatoes are the ones grown in your own garden. If you can manage it, plant a few plum tomato plants at the beginning of June so that you can make a huge batch of sauce by summer’s end. These will be the most fresh-tasting, robust tomatoes you’ll find, and it will make cooking a sauce a million times easier.
The next best are tomatoes from the farmer’s market, in which I also recommend looking for plum, Roma, or San Marzano-labelled tomatoes. What I’d strongly advise against is buying tomatoes in store, because these tomatoes are mass-produced and bred commercially, causing them to have a genetic mutation that makes them less sweet and less flavorful.
Think of tomato sauce as a summer-seasonal recipe, and try to make a big batch to freeze for winter months.
What I didn’t understand initially (and now do) is that peeling the tomatoes makes all the difference. You could probably make this a dozen different ways, but without peeling the tomatoes first, no recipe will be perfect. It seems like a tedious step, but I promise it goes quickly and is well-worth doing.
This recipe is a little different from my favorite Sunday gravy recipe. The gravy is meaty, slow-cooked, and rich with pork flavor. This sauce is bright, fresh, and vegetarian, meaning that you can use it more widely and for lighter, brighter pastas overall.
It takes a somewhat alarming amount of tomatoes to make sauce. I typically use 12 just to make enough for Evan and I — so even just for a portion of 4, you’ll need at least 24 tomatoes. It will feel like a lot of tomato, but it cooks down significantly. Have a garden overflowing with tomato? Time to use it.
Enjoy.
Serves 4
INGREDIENTS
24 plum tomatoes
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 yellow onion, diced
8 cloves garlic, peeled and smashed
1/2 cup chicken stock*
1/2 cup red wine
2 teaspoons honey or 1 teaspoon granulated sugar
Salt and pepper, to taste
4 tablespoons butter
1/2 cup FRESHLY grated Parmesan
4 leaves basil, torn
RECIPE
Slice an “X” into the smooth-sided bottom of each tomato, opposite the core.
Bring a large pot of water to boil. Once boiling, add the tomatoes, then remove the pot from the heat.
Let tomatoes rest in warm water for 20 minutes, until skins are soft and beginning to peel away.
Drain the pot and peel each tomato. Skins should be easy to remove.
In the same large pot or Dutch oven, heat oil over medium heat. Add the onion and garlic and cook until fragrant and beginning to soften, about 4-5 minutes.
Crush the tomatoes by hand and add them to the pot. Add the chicken stock, red wine, honey, salt, and pepper and bring to a simmer.
Simmer for 30 minutes or up to 2 hours, replenishing chicken stock as needed to avoid burning. Stir often. The liquid will reduce and the sauce will be thick, but stock can be added to avoid sticking.
Remove the sauce from the heat and use an immersion blender* to blend smooth.
Add butter and Parmesan. Stir to melt into the sauce smoothly.
Stir in the basil. Serve fresh or store in jars in the refrigerator for up to 1 week. To freeze, add to Ziploc gallon bags, flatten, and store for 6 to 9 months.
NOTES:
*You can use vegetable stock or water to make this vegetarian. I’d recommend using stock before you use water, as the water makes the sauce less flavorful.
*You can also transfer the mixture to a full blender. To do this, cool the sauce halfway and leave the top hole of the blender open. Cover the hole with a towel and blend.
What the tomatoes should look like when ready to peel
It should look a little watery at first, but will reduce while it simmers.
I highly recommend using fresh Parmesan (which is not what I did here!) The store-bought grated Parmesan does not melt the same way and will clump in the sauce.
Store in jars. I find that one Mason jar is about 2 servings of sauce.
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