Basic tomato sauce recipe for pasta

[Geri]

Passata is sieved tomatoes.

I know.

 

[oneflewover]

The last sauce i made from recipe also included carrots chopped really fine. Once simmered they disappeared but was a lovely sauce.

 

[Spark]

For a very basic sauce I just use a tin of chopped tomatoes, heat them and mash them with a potato masher to make into more of a sauce. Simmer for a while, add a bit of salt, a pinch of sugar and black pepper. When it's almost done add some fresh basil, then take off the heat and stir in a bit of good olive oil.

 

[Herbsman.]

what's with the sugar? youre at least the second person i've noticed who adds sugar to tomato sauce

 

[Herbsman.]

I know.

Well then you'll know that it's exactly the same thing as a tin of tomatoes that's been sieved

 

[Ms T]

It depends what I'm making, but I like Marcella Hazan's recipe, which involves gently simmering tomatoes with half an onion, left whole, and adding butter. You remove the onion before serving.

 

[Geri]

Right, I have an onion, four chillies, garlic, passata and fresh basil.

I was half tempted to just buy a jar of Loyd Grosman tomato and chilli sauce - it's way nicer than anything I could make myself.

 

[Detroit City]

I was half tempted to just buy a jar of Loyd Grosman tomato and chilli sauce - it's way nicer than anything I could make myself.

yea, see that's what i was talkin' about

 

[tarannau]

Right, I have an onion, four chillies, garlic, passata and fresh basil.

I was half tempted to just buy a jar of Loyd Grosman tomato and chilli sauce - it's way nicer than anything I could make myself.

Doubt it, that stuff's way greasy and artificial tasting.

Honestly, you'll do better than that.

 

[heinous seamus]

Right, I have an onion, four chillies, garlic, passata and fresh basil.

I was half tempted to just buy a jar of Loyd Grosman tomato and chilli sauce - it's way nicer than anything I could make myself.

Uggh I had that the other night and thought it was pants. I reckon your own'll be better.

 

[heinous seamus]

what's with the sugar? youre at least the second person i've noticed who adds sugar to tomato sauce

I think the idea is that this counters the 'acidity' of tinned tomatoes.
I learned that from daytime telly

 

[Detroit City]

I think the idea is that this counters the 'acidity' of tinned tomatoes.
I learned that from daytime telly

yea, or even of fresh tomatoes....some like it, some don't

 

[Looby]

Uggh I had that the other night and thought it was pants. I reckon your own'll be better.

I like the Lloyd Grossman pasta sauces, especially the roasted garlic one. The curry sauces are good too.

 

[Geri]

I like the Lloyd Grossman pasta sauces, especially the roasted garlic one. The curry sauces are good too.

I like the Jalfrezi and the Red Thai. The others I find a bit too oily.

 

[Detroit City]

I like the Jalfrezi and the Red Thai. The others I find a bit too oily.

The Paul Newman* line of pasta sauces is superb over here and a percentage of each sale goes to charity. Bit more costly but well worth it.

*yes, the actor

 

[cesare]

Interesting that the Loyd Grosman sauce contains concentrated lemon juice. I'd never thought of adding that to tomato sauce. *wonders if it's to help counterract the oil*

 

[Herbsman.]

I think the idea is that this counters the 'acidity' of tinned tomatoes.
I learned that from daytime telly

I've never noticed an acidic taste in tinned tomatoes. Not Aldi ones anyway...

 

[Badgers]

Great thread.
Cooking does not need to be complicated.
This is a good example of a simple thing to prepare that given practise you will tailor and tweak until it is perfect

 

[tarannau]

Certainly not, and nobody's pretending that you have to make your perfect pasta sauce every time. There are degrees of care and complexity you can take.

Can't be arsed to make that long simmering massive pot of Italian style thick tomato sauce on a weeknight, particularly as you're only having a little smear over escalopes,? Then just do a similar, quicker version using passata. It'll still be better than the greasy, artificial sugar and salt laden gunk that passes for most pasta sauces.

Even that Newman's own sauce that DC mentions, which is more 'natural' than most, contains more sugar and salt than onion, more soybean oil than olive oil and the like. They're weird confections that you'd never cook in your own kitchen.

 

[May Kasahara]

Those Grosman sauces have the consistency of puked-up tomato sauce.

 

[tarannau]

Those Grosman sauces have the consistency of puked-up tomato sauce.

You'd have to have a kebab and irritate your stomach lining first. There's an angry oily film on the top of the tomato and chilli one that disturbed me.

Didn't taste as bad as it looked admittedly, but gawd knows what they put in it.

 

[Paulie Tandoori]

My tomato sauce varies on what's available but if poss is as follows.

Chopped onions fried up for a few mins with some sliced red chilli, then add garlic and herb (some/any combo of basil, oregano, marjoram, thyme) and fry for another couple of mins, then stir in some thinly sliced celery and carrot and fry for another 5 or so mins (added sweetness without sugar see).

Then add your toms/passata with a little water from tin/jar for extra juice, squirt of tomato puree or ketchup, salt & pepper, and low simmer for 20-30 minutes until lovely and glossy and thick. Chuck in some chopped parsely, more seasoning if necessary and Bob's your uncle.

Fuck that ready-made shit, can never beat a home-made sauce imo.

 

[Spark]

If the tomatoes are sharp a bit of sugar balances the flavour. It's not necessary, I use it more like a seasoning to enhance the flavour, so just a very small amount, particularly if I'm not adding much else to the sauce (such as onions and garlic). If I have it I'll use muscavado.

 

[Kidda]

made one yesterday to use up some bits and bobs

you need

oil
1 onion
1 red pepper
1 clove of garlic
basil
mixed herbs
1 tin of chopped toms
garlic bread

heat some oil (i used grapeseed) in a pan, crush the clove of garlic and add to the oil, add some basil and some mixed herbs, stir, finely chop onion and add to the pan, stir cook for a bit, chop red pepper and add that in, cook for another few minutes, then add chopped toms. when the toms are heated through add some more basil and mixed herbs to taste. simmer untill you reach the consistency your happy with

pour over ricotta cheese and spinach pasta, serve with garlic bread.

 

[8ball]

So the consensus is

oil
onions
garlic
toms
seasoning

Excellent - that's a significant increase to my culinary repertiore

 

[Geri]

Well, I made this last night. I used loads of olive oil, fried up three cloves of garlic and two red chillies, added the prawns, then some passata (only had to use about 1/4 of it). Oh, and some fresh basil.

Cooked the tagliatelle then mixed it up all up, and it was bloody gorgeous, even if I do say so myself!

 

[Spark]

A good base for adding seafood is:

in a small bit of oil cook a clove of garlic and some chilli (fresh or chilli flakes)
add chopped tomatoes (fresh or tinned) and some white wine - approximately one glass of wine to a tin of tomatoes
cook until the wine and tomato mixture has reduced and is quite thick
at this stage add prawns, alternatively use squid but add and cook before the tomatoes and wine
just before serving stir in quite a bit of fresh flat leaf parsley

 

[Geri]

A good base for adding seafood is:

in a small bit of oil cook a clove of garlic and some chilli (fresh or chilli flakes)
add chopped tomatoes (fresh or tinned) and some white wine - approximately one glass of wine to a tin of tomatoes
cook until the wine and tomato mixture has reduced and is quite thick
at this stage add prawns, alternatively use squid but add and cook before the tomatoes and wine
just before serving stir in quite a bit of fresh flat leaf parsley

That's almost the same as I did, but I forgot to get wine and I added basil instead of parsley.

 

[Nine Bob Note]

Serves 2 (Why do cookbooks always put this bit in italics?)

400g tin of tomatoes
Small carrot
Stick of celery
Mild red chilli
Handful of fresh basil (Of all the dried herbs, dried basil is surely the most evil?)
Salt & ground black pepper (add the freshly cracked variety to the final dish)
Splash of garlic sauce (I like this, but use two fresh cloves if you consider me a classless German piece of shit)
Pinch of sugar (unless using plum tomatoes)
Healthy dash of olive oil (Be generous - this is the only fat in this)

Blend the whole lot up into the consistency of a Slush Puppy and simmer for 1/2 hour.

Moral of the story: DON'T ADD ONION. Trust me, much better without it.

Also nice with a heaped tablespoon of Mascarpone per person

 

[electrogirl]

Serves 2 (Why do cookbooks always put this bit in italics?)

400g tin of tomatoes
Small carrot
Stick of celery
Mild red chilli
Handful of fresh basil (Of all the dried herbs, dried basil is surely the most evil?)
Salt & ground black pepper (add the freshly cracked variety to the final dish)
Splash of garlic sauce (I like this, but use two fresh cloves if you consider me a classless German piece of shit)
Pinch of sugar (unless using plum tomatoes)
Healthy dash of olive oil (Be generous - this is the only fat in this)

Blend the whole lot up into the consistency of a Slush Puppy and simmer for 1/2 hour.

Moral of the story: DON'T ADD ONION. Trust me, much better without it.

Also nice with a heaped tablespoon of Mascarpone per person

oooh a tomato sauce recipee with no onion. that is pretty fucking cool.