Tomato pasta sauce?

[Ara]

I'm looking for a good recipe for making tomato pasta sauce, all the ones i've found so far have specified using canned tomatos and i want to use fresh as i don't like canned foods.
All my experiments have turned out a bit minging though, i generally chop up some tom's blend them with water, veg stock and marmite then thicken it with cornflour. Tastes bearable but nothing spectacular.
So any ideas anyone?

[Risker]

I'd do it without the veg stock, marmite and cornflour and I'd add onion, garlic and perhaps some other vegetables, capsicums, courgettes, olives etc.

[Ara]

Thanks, but i'd rather not add any other veggies to it i'm just looking for a plain tomato sauce at the mo

[Risker]

I thought you'd say something like that

In that case couldn't you just peel the tomatoes, liquidise them and then cook it on the hob, I don't see the need to add anything to thicken it, if its too runny then reduce it in the saucepan.

[Tigerlily]

Make sure the tomatoes are super ripe!

[Haniska]

I'm a big fan of Good Eats on the food network. (although alton's creations have turned my stomach and channel more than once).
Anyway, he had a recipe on there for oven baked tomato sauce. The big thing is to scoop the acidic gel out of the tomato first. Very important he says. Then arrange them cut side up in a baking dish and sprinkle with your spices and (drizzle with olive oil?) He baked them for a long time at 350, like 2-3 hrs I think but check them because I'm not sure. When they are done whiz them up and use as is or put them in a skillet with some white wine and cook the alcohol out, then eat.
This is not exact but I'm sure you can look it up on www.foodnetwork.com

[Jane M]

Tomatoes have so much water that I don't think adding liquid is the best thing to do. Just use a really meaty type of tomatoes..I like romas or some places call them plum tomatoes. They are the kind meant for sauces. Just peel and crush them up and then let them slow cook over low heat until you get the consistancy you want. You can puree them if you want a really smooth sauce.

[Ara]

Ahh adding water may have been where i was going wrong, they didn't seem to blend though without some kind of liquid, maybe i shouldn't blend them at all! Hehe. I shall try crushing them like you said that sounds like a good idea (this is a really lame question though but - how do you crush tomatos, i am such a good cook lol)

[Jane M]

I use a potatoe masher while they are cooking. Lacking that just use a knife and keep cutting them up as they cook or take an empty washed out can and chop it up and down on them while their cooking.

[sugarmouse]

all i do,and this is on another thread, is chop a bit of onion in a fryin pan,fry in a bit of marg or soy sauce or lite spray,add quatered tomatos,cook for a bit,add tomato puree and sometimes tinned tomatoes,cook like that for a bit, then add some stock,herbs, if i want.
then i blend.but if you dont want to blend, just chop the tomatos finer.

[Cherry]

That's pretty much exactly what I do, Sugarmouse I confess, I usually use part/all tinned tomatoes but if I have loads of fresh ones I use them. I usually cook the onion in olive oil.

[GoodbyeGirl]

i agree, canned tomatoes just don't do justice to a sauce. i got this recipe off the back of a tomato seed packet. it's pretty good; very fresh and simple.

FRESH TOMATO SAUCE

3 1/2lbs. plum tomatoes, peeled, seeded & coarsely chopped (about 4c)
1t salt
3T olive oil
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
red pepper flakes (optional)
1 onion, finely chopped
1c fresh basil leaves, loosely packed
freshly ground pepper
pinch of sugar
1/2c flat leaf parsley, coarsely chopped

place tomatoes in a colander and sprinkle with salt. let liquid drain into sink for about 30 minutes.
heat oil in a 12 inch skillet. add garlic and red pepper flakes., if desired, and cook until garlic begins to color. add onion and cook over low heat until very soft but not brown, about 10 minutes.
add tomatoes, basil, pepper and sugar. raise heat to medium high adn cook 5 - 10 minutes, until thick (sauce should bubble briskly). stir in parsley and adjust seasonings.

[GoodbyeGirl]

here is another one, using freshly roasted tomatoes. it's technically not a pasta sauce, but it can be used as one. it is still fresh, but more hearty and suited to cold weather.

TOMATOES ROASTED WITH ROSEMARY AND LEMON

1/4c chopped fresh flat leaf parsley
1T chopped fresh rosemary
1T olive oil
2t grated lemon rind
1/2t salt
1/2t fresh pepper
4lbs plum tomatoes, quartered lengthwise
3 garlic cloves, minced

preheat oven to 350 degrees F
place all ingredients in large bowl and toss well to combine. place tomato mixture in a 13 x 9 inch baking dish. bake at 400 for 30 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes. remove mixture from oven.
preheat broiler.
broil tomatoes for 10 minutes or until they begin to brown. remove from oven; stir gently to combine.
to serve over pasta cook 12 oz pasta, drain, and return to pan. stir in 3c of the roasted tomatoes and cook over low heat until liquid thickens.

[emmy]

yes, i tend to fry a little onion and garlic first before adding the tomatoes.
if you just wanted to use tomatoes alone though, i'm sure a nice blend of herbs (basil, oregano etc) would liven it up

[jonny_mears]

if you have some nice ripe tomatoes, you can halve and roast them with a basil leaf, thin slice of garlic and drizzle of olive oil on each upturned half. after half an hour or so, liquidise them with a smidgen of balsamic vinegar and salt and pepper. yum yum yum.

[seamus]

this is what i do;

16-22 large ripe tommies.-blacken em to hell under the grill. take out.
in a large pot sweat off 2 red onions add in 3 cloves garlic and a chilli of yer choice. add in a little chillie oil. just a smidge.
chuck in the tommies. let to bubble 5 mins to 10 mins. chuck in a a small cup of veg stock( i usually dont add in very much)
leave for 20 mins. add a bit of nutmeg, paprika and whatever else ye use. leave the fresh basil till late on
now add a very very good measure of red wine(vegan of course)
leave that now for 40 mins
add basil. tiny tiny bit of rosemarry black pepper and smidge of kosher salt.
blend up. bring to a boil then simmer for 5-10 mins.
there ye have it.

[KayJay]

My quick & easy, low fat version is

• soften some onions & garlic in a small amount of water or olive oil
• add a carton of pasata (you can buy this with basil already in
• add a small spoon of sweetener or sugar (this really brings out the tomato flavours
• season with fresh back pepper

voila!

[emmapresley]

just to throw in my haphazard version.. get some tomatoes and pop them in boiling water for a bit then score qnd peel the skins off them..

satuee some onion..red is nice bit of garlic..put in the chopped tomatoes....use some of that marigold bouillon powder..cracked black pepper..cook it up..add in some brown sugar near the end..don't have to cook it long..just enough to break up the tomaotoes and that...blitz it up with a hand blender if you want..oir leave it chunky..rip up stacks of basil if you fancy it and drape casually on top...

[Herbsman]

You don't need anything but tomatoes for plain tomato sauce.

Garlic, basil and chilli are good additions, but all this talk of marmite, vegetable stock, flour... WTF?!

Regardless of what ingredients you use, you're going to end up with something inferior to a sauce made from tinned Italian plum tomatoes unless you can get fresh, ripe, in-season tomatoes. Which is a rareity in this country.

[yrouel]

Hello everybody, I'm italian, so I apologise if my english is not the best.
I have to say that it's really hard to make a good tomato sauce with the fresh tomatoes that you can find in english supermarkets.
You should use fresh ripe tomatoes in season (so in the summer) and the ones that I find here are always ver expensive and not so good.
Anyway to make it from scratch you should make a "soffritto" first, frying really finely chopped onions, celery and garlic (some people who don't like the texture of the veggies blend them together) in a good italian extra virgin olive oil and make them "sweat" adding a generous pinch of salt, then add the chopped tomatoes (some people take the skins off, but I quite like them, I think they add flavour), a pinch of black pepper and some marigold bouillon powder for a stronger flavour (you won't need this if your tomatoes are really good).
Then you should cook the sauce for a VERY long time to remove the natural acidity of the tomatoes (you can use a little bit of sugar if you're in a rush, but it's kida of cheating :smile and at the end add some fresh basil and parsley.
An important thing to remember is that you should NEVER chop the basil with a metallic knife 'cause it changes the flavour, just tear it.
If you don't have any fresh herbs, you can use the dried oregano, cooking it with the sauce, 'cause dryed basil and parsley don't have much flavour.
If you like a spicy sauce like the italian "arrabbiata" you can also add some chilli flakes to the "soffritto" being careful because they burn quite easily.
Remember that the best way to serve the pasta with tomato sauce is to stir the pasta in the sauce pot for the last 3 minutes of cooking.
The final touch is to drizzle some cold extravirgin olive oil on top of your pasta with tomato sauce to enhance the flavour.
I hope I've been useful

[Risker]

An important thing to remember is that you should NEVER chop the basil with a metallic knife 'cause it changes the flavour, just tear it.

Why?

I'd not heard of this before and did a quick search on google and from what I read it seems to be a myth, I can't think of a way that it could affect it myself.

Remember that the best way to serve the pasta with tomato sauce is to stir the pasta in the sauce pot for the last 3 minutes of cooking.

Definately agree with this, you need to add the pasta to the sauce so that it fully absorbs and is totally coated with the sauces flavour. Pouring the sauce over the pasta is no good.

[flying plum]

i've not heard of the changing the flavour part, but i have always been told not to do it because the basil (and parsley) bruises so easily - you know, you end up with that dark green mush. i tend to put it in a glass and cut with scissors for parsley, and just tear basil (dont' like it when it's in little bits anyway).

when i was training as a cocktail bartender, i was told never to cut up mint, either, or muddle it in a glass, but rather tear it and just bruise it in my hand to get the flavour. i will actually agree - having made several mojitos in my time - that it does taste a lot better if you don't pound it to hell, and perhaps a similar thing applies to basil.

anyhoo, i used to have an excellent recipe for tomato sauce, but i can't find it. but i think there are good enough ones anyway. as for the anti-can thing...if you want fresh tomatoes, particularly to make tomato sauce, this is for sure the wrong time of year to be doing it. tomato season is all but over and any ones that are lurking around will be too flavourless to really make a good sauce.

imo, there's nothing wrong with canned tomatoes...particularly in winter. they are more 'natural' than horrible greenhouse ones. canning was invented so we could eat nutritionally well during the winter so we did't have to just eat potatoes and cabbage (well, not quite but you get my drift)

amanda

[sugarmouse]

I have read that chopping rather than tearing, allows a lot of the flavour to retain on the knife.

[fiamma]

A good tip is to skin the tomatoes first - put the fresh tomatoes in boiling water and within 30secs to a minute the skins wil split and you can slip them off. I love just mixing chopped fresh tomatoes with cooked pasta and adding a drizzle of olive oil and a sprinkling of herbs - quick and very tasty

[Metal Maniac]

I'd do it without the veg stock, marmite and cornflour and I'd add onion, garlic and perhaps some other vegetables, capsicums, courgettes, olives etc.

That sounds good...thanxs Risker!!!

[sugarmouse]

I do that too Fiamma
Sometimes add peppers or cooked onions if I am feeling adventurous!¬