Time: 10 min
Recipe
28 oz of tomatoes
3 cloves garlic
1 Tbs basil
1 tsp thyme
1tsp oregano
2 Tbs of Olive Oil
1 Tbs of Balsamic Vinegar or Red Wine
Saute over Medium Heat : Olive Oil, Balsamic Vinegar, and Herbs
Crush and add the Garlic. Do not let the garlic cook to long and turn brown or your sauce will not taste good. It's better to ditch the batch at this point and try again if your garlic overcooks.
Once
the garlic starts to smell good (it will turn off white) add the
tomatoes, stir a bit to incorporate the oil and heat until it starts to
bubble. Turn down the heat and let simmer as long as you need to reach a
desired consistency. If you are using canned tomatoes, it will be
ready as soon as it bubbles.Enjoy!
Tomatoes
Ideally, fresh are the best. There are many opinions about where and how they should be prepared. I spent many hours helping my mother blanch, peel, and mill tomatoes for sauce the old fashioned way and I've also eaten pizza made with ketchup. I only use fresh tomatoes if I can find ones that are ripe and organic. Otherwise the preparation just doesn't seem worth the time because a poorly ripened tomato doesn't taste good, and since I don't live in a region known for it's tomato season I settle for canned. Cento, Muir Glen, and Pomi brands are widely available and provide decent flavor. However, with a boost of ingredients one can make just about any tomato into an amazing sauce. If you find that your canned tomatoes are to salty add a tiny extra bit of red wine or balsamic vinegar. If they are too acidic, add a couple extra cloves of crushed garlic. Not sweet enough, add more basil. As far as puree vs. diced, just choose what is best for your dish. Puree will be very thick & often salty (if you don't have a lot of time to simmer the sauce for hours this might be your best bet), just be prepared to add a little water if it's took thick to stir. On the other end of the spectrum is diced which is good for a Pomodoro sauce, but include seeds and possibly skin. I like to use 1/2 crushed and 1/2 pureed tomatoes.
Olive Oil & Balsamic Vinegar
I buy this in bulk compromising between flavor, origin, and price.
Garlic
I use a garlic press to press fresh cloves of garlic. I choose heads of garlic carefully looking for dents, discoloration, etc, and never keep it longer than a week or two. Old garlic tastes strong, and not in a good way. Many people are adept at chopping and crushing garlic with a knife. I can't ever seem to achieve the wonderful oily version of crushed garlic with a knife alone, and my children don't like to be surprised with spicy bits. I'm sure the minced garlic in a jar works, just try to crush it up a lot.
Herbs
Fresh is awesome. Use at least 3-4x as much as dry. I use dry for 9-10 months out of the year.
Yield
One batch will cover one pound of pasta, two average size pizzas, or one 9x13" lasagne. I like to make at least 2 batches at a time and freeze half. Tomato sauce will stain most plastic containers. I grew up freezing this in glass jars, just leave a little room at the top for expansion or there will be broken glass all over the freezer. This method requires that you plan ahead for thawing.
