Basic Tomato Sauce
How to make a restaurant quality tomato sauce at home.
Ingredients
Sachet
- 2 bay leaves
- 8 black peppercorns
- 1 tablespoon dried basil
- 1 tablespoon dried oregano
- 1 tablespoon dried thyme
Sauce
- 1½ bulbs garlic peeled and chopped
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 #10 cans tomatoes 102 oz. each including juice
- 5 cups chicken stock
- 3 tablespoons sugar
Instructions
- Heat oil in a large heavy bottomed pot and sauté the garlic. Be careful not to burn the garlic, it will ruin the sauce.
- Drain the tomatoes reserving the juice.
- While the garlic is cooking, start the de-seeding process and add to the pot when the garlic is golden. Keep de-seeding the tomatoes and adding the pulp to the pot.
- Add the reserved tomato juice, Sachet, chicken stock, and sugar.
- Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer until the sauce is reduced by half. This will take anywhere from 2-3 hours stirring every once and awhile.
- When the sauce is finished, remove the Sachet.
SK
Hi, I am a vegetarian.What can I add instead of chicken stock to add flavor to my sauce.Also would the recipe be different for fresh tomatoes instead of canned ones? Thanks.
The Reluctant Gourmet
Sk, I might try some vegetable stock in place of the chicken stock. If the fresh tomatoes are ripe like they are here in Pennsylvania and New Jersey in August, the sauce will be even better. But if you can't find exceptional tomatoes, stick with canned.
Ray
Strongly suggest de-seeding the tomatoes BEFORE you begin cooking the garlic. It takes about 2 minutes on a low flame to get garlic golden and who knows how long it will take to get all the seeds out of the tomatoes. Un-can the tomatoes into a large bowl. Pull them out one by one onto a plate and open each tomato and pull the seeds out, leaving the seeds and whatever juice on the plate. Put the de-seeded tomato flesh in a second bowl. Strain the seedy juice into the second bowl containing the de-seeded tomatoes. Repeat until all tomatoes are out of the can, de-seeded and in the second bowl, adding the strained juice to the second bowl. Discard seeds. Start sauteing the garlic and once it is light golden - first sign of color - add the de-seeded tomatoes and juice to the garlic, stir, and away you go! The rest is as simple as falling off a log and landing in Rome.
Brian
Have you ever just cooked down a couple 28oz cans of San Marzano Tomatoes for 3 hours? That is the whole recipe. Maybe add some garlic if you want. Tastes much better than all these complicated recipes. The San Marzano tomatoes basically dissolve into a thick sauce with occasional stirring.