The Best Homemade Tomato Sauce

A great tomato sauce is possibly one of your most versatile dishes as a home chef. Ideal with pasta like penne and farfalle, but especially so with meatballs or as a topping for pizzas. Just pour over a meaty chop or your favourite vegetarian food. It really is one of the simplest sauces you can make and no-one would be more pleased to see it. 

This tomato sauce is a very one to make and cooks in no time at all. In fact some people have made it in the time it takes to boil pasta but I prefer a much more extended version where the sauce is reduced. However if you intend to give 75 grams of pasta such tagliatelle or spaghetti to anyone, it should be possible to rustle up this beauty. It’s also one for pouring over ravioli or tortellini with a beef filling.

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Serves 4 when added in portions to pasta. Preparation time: 10 minutes; Cooking time: up to 45 minutes depending on the tomatoes used.

Equipment:

• • frying pans or skillet
  • knives
  • saucepans
  • small bowls
  • wooden spoons/ spatulas

Ingredients:-

• 1 tin (400g) of high quality plum tomatoes ….I have tried doing a version using the equivalent of frozen tomatoes. It takes longer because of the thawing but the results are virtually the same.
• 2 or 3 cloves of garlic…..peeled and sliced, mashed or finely chopped up. It really only matters that they make it into the sauce. Essential for flavour and delivering a bit of punch.
• 1 or 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar. I prefer Heinz ketchup which works especially well…. gives a bite to the sauce. The amount used depends on how much extra sauciness is needed.
• 1 tablespoon olive oil..only used for frying the garlic.
• a handful of basil leaves… all depends if you like the flavour but tomatoes and basil really go well together.
• a pinch of chili flakes, chopped chillis, chilli powder…add enough chilli to get a kick.
• a pinch of dried oregano… add as an option during the sauce making.
• Salt and ground black pepper to taste

Preparation:

1. The garlic cloves are peeled and sliced, mashed or cut into very small pieces. Your call really. Have a non-stick frying pan or skillet heating up and add a glug of olive oil just to coat the pan. Add the garlic and let it fry for 20 seconds so that it remains relatively white. Some chefs like it golden brown but that might just douse the pungency too much.
2. Add the can of tomatoes. Best to break up with a spoon. Chefs like Jamie Oliver like you to break them up with your hands but the mess is something else. Simmer the tomatoes on a low heat until any pasta is cooked. It’s worth bearing in mind that canned tomatoes turn bitter with long cooking. The seeds appear to release bitter flavours.
3. Add the other ingredients. Do not leave to cook too long but I like to see it heated for just long enough for it all to thicken a bit.
4. Cook pasta. If you are making the sauce for the pasta, now is the time to start. Cook dry pasta (75g per person) for 8 minutes.
5. Add the sauce to the pasta in a bowl. I reckon it is possible to just mix the pasta like spaghetti or tagliatelle in without losing it all over the bowl.
6. Add basil if you have any left.