Who cooks?

[mariah0803]

Can someone tell me if this looks like a pretty good tomoato sauce

Best Basic Red Sauce:
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 1/2 cups chopped yellow onions (1 medium yellow onion)
1 teaspoon minced garlic (2 cloves garlic)
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon dried basil
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper
2 (28-ounce) cans whole peeled tomatoes
2 (15-ounce) cans tomato sauce
3 tablespoons tomato paste
2 cups water
1 teaspoon sugar

 

[Josie]

Hi,

This looks like a good sauce. It would taste better is you use fresh basil and a cube of chicken broth.

Josie

 

[Miss Lee]

Mariah, there are as many recipes for tomato sauce as there are people on the planet --lol! Really, though, it comes down to a matter of personal taste. If it were me, I'd ditch the whole tomatoes and the paste and just use 2-28 oz cans of crushed tomatoes in puree. You're going to have to crush the whole tomatoes anyway, and the paste will likely thicken your sauce a little too much (but it does intensify flavor, too, so it's your call). As for the plain tomato sauce, that's fine to use and will give your sauce a smoother consistency.

Looking at your herbs:

* I would ditch the oregano (my mom was from Italy and she swears that you shouldn't add oregano unless you're using it for pizza --lol!)
* increase the basil to 1 tsp for every 28 oz can of tomatoes/sauce (that's if you use dried -- if you use fresh you'll need a lot more)
* I use 1 or 2 cloves of garlic for every 28 oz can of tomato, but then, I love garlic:9
* add 1 bay leaf and remove it after cooking
* add a couple TBS of fresh, chopped flat leaf Italian parsley before serving
* if you're making pasta to go with your sauce, add pasta water to your sauce instead of tap water
* if you want to add flavor without fat and calories, replace some of the water with beef broth, just be careful you don't add so much that your sauce becomes too thin

HTH

 

[tneah]

I cook a pretty mean tomatoe sauce (well at least my DH says so!)
And I agree, use fresh basil and tomatoes when you can, also, try this for added flavor.
Saute the garlic and onions in some olive oil, when they are browned, careful not to burn the garlic--add 1/2 to one cup red wine--doesn't matter what type, it just adds a wonderful rich flavor. Then add the rest of the ingredients, toss into the slow cooker on low for 8 hours. This allows the flavor to really come out.
I then add either homemade meatballs, or Italian sausage--I make extra and freeze it for spaghetti or other things.

 

[amybajamy]

I make a really good vegetable sauce for pasta:

1 eggplant
3 red bell peppers
4 tomatoes
8 cloves of garlic (I love garlic)
1 can tomato paste
salt

Cut up eggplant, red peppers, and tomatoes and roast in the oven for 30-45 minutes. Sorry I can't remember what temp, but I think it's 350. Leave garlic cloves whole and unpeeled, roast in oven for 20-30 minutes. Put all vegetables and tomato paste in a blender (peel the garlic first) puree until smooth adding water when needed. Add desired amount of salt.

This sauce is really good on multi-grain or whole wheat pasta with some sauteed mushrooms added. It would be good with fresh basil too though I haven't tried that yet.:9

 

[paxy]

Interesting that the above post uses tomato paste. I find when I don't use tomato paste in my sauces, they lack the consistancy and flavor. I also think the longer the sauce cooks the tastier.

Cheryl