Whether you use fresh tomatoes, canned tomatoes or passata from a jar, you still need to combine your tomatoes with herb and spices to create a tasty and aromatic tomato sauce.
Connie’s Notes
One of the five mother sauces in French cuisine, tomato sauce is so widely available that we cooks often choose convenience over texture and flavor.
The thing is, while commercial tomato sauce may cut down the cooking time, you also cut down on a lot of things.
Why is parboiling the better way? The tomato skin. Fussy cooks swear it can ruin the texture of the cooked tomato sauce.
Con of using fresh tomatoes: The color and ripeness of tomatoes from the market vary. Sometimes, they’re all bright red and plump. Other times, they’re yellowish or even greenish, and the pulp has not turned soft yet. While all of these can be used to make tomato sauce, if the tomatoes are not the right color, add paprika and your problem is solved.
Canned tomatoes come in at least two variants: whole peeled and diced. If using whole peeled, crush the tomatoes with your hand before pouring into the pot. If using diced, just pour the contents of the can into the pot. Cook as though you’re cooking with fresh tomatoes.
Passata is sold in jars. It is 100% tomatoes with the seeds, watery centers and skins removed. Only the luscious tomato pulp is cooked until it breaks down and liquefies.
- You pass off on the option to make a smooth or a chunky tomato sauce (yes, you have that choice!).
- You hand over to the tomato sauce manufacturer the freedom to determine how tomato sauce should be seasoned (there is only so much adjustment you can make with commercial tomato sauce).
- Most significantly, you give the manufacturer the right to put additives and artificial ingredients into your body.
Fresh tomatoes
There’s an easy way and a better way to use fresh tomatoes to make tomato sauce. The easy way is to dice your tomatoes and saute it with the required herbs and spices. Just let the tomatoes liquefy with plenty of stirring and the result is chunky tomato sauce. The better way is to parboil the tomatoes so you can peel off and discard the skin. Just roughly chop, add to your sauteed herbs and spices, and season.
Why is parboiling the better way? The tomato skin. Fussy cooks swear it can ruin the texture of the cooked tomato sauce.
Con of using fresh tomatoes: The color and ripeness of tomatoes from the market vary. Sometimes, they’re all bright red and plump. Other times, they’re yellowish or even greenish, and the pulp has not turned soft yet. While all of these can be used to make tomato sauce, if the tomatoes are not the right color, add paprika and your problem is solved.
Canned whole or diced tomatoes
Canned tomatoes come in at least two variants: whole peeled and diced. If using whole peeled, crush the tomatoes with your hand before pouring into the pot. If using diced, just pour the contents of the can into the pot. Cook as though you’re cooking with fresh tomatoes.
Passata
Not as common as canned tomatoes, passata is a Southern Italian tomato puree.
Passata is sold in jars. It is 100% tomatoes with the seeds, watery centers and skins removed. Only the luscious tomato pulp is cooked until it breaks down and liquefies.
Chunky or smooth tomato sauce?
When you use fresh tomatoes or canned whole peeled tomatoes, you get chunky tomato sauce which you can easily transform into a smooth one by using a blender (immersion or traditional). Process to the consistency that you prefer. If using passata, the tomato sauce will be somewhere between chunky and smooth. That’s because you have bits of other solid ingredients like onion and garlic. You may smoothen the sauce some more also by using a blender.My preferred method for making tomato sauce
First, I cook tomato soup with reduced amount of vegetable stock. (If I want a smooth sauce, I plunge in the immersion blender to smoothen the mixture) Then, I simmer it until it has reduced to the consistency of smooth tomato sauce.Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons olive oil - not extra virgin
- 1 large yellow onion - peeled and thinly sliced
- 4 to 6 cloves garlic - peeled and chopped
- 1 sprig oregano - leaves only
- 1 can diced tomatoes - 400 grams / 14 ounces
- ½ cup vegetable stock
- salt
- ¼ pepper
- 1 pinch chili flakes
- ½ teaspoon sugar
Instructions
- Heat the oil in a pot.
- Spread the onion, garlic and oregano in the hot oil and saute, stirring often, until the onion slices and garlic are just starting to brown.
- Pour in the diced tomatoes and vegetable stock.
- Season with salt, pepper, half a teaspoon of sugar and chili flakes.
- Bring to the boil, cover, lower the heat and simmer for ten minutes.
- Take the pot off the stove, plunge in an immersion blender and process until smooth.
- Put the pot back on the stove and simmer the processed mixture until reduced and thickened to the consistency that you prefer.
- Taste, adjust the seasonings, if needed, before using / serving.
