PSA: Homemade tomato sauce >>>>>> sauce from the store

[JDub02]

I took an evening class yesterday at a local culinary school and we made gnocchi with tomato sauce. Both were very simple. I can't believe what I've been missing out on by popping the lid on a Prego when I want pasta. It was a very simple tomato sauce. It only took about 30 minutes start to finish and tasted amazing. I don't think I'll ever buy sauce again (unless I'm feeling really lazy).

I also found out what a difference fresh herbs can make. Fresh oregano >>>>>> dried stuff.

Sauce:

Saute some onions & carrots. Add some garlic and saute some more. Deglaze with a bit of red wine and reduce. Add tomotoes and simmer for ~10 minutes. Puree sauce. Add some oregano and thyme and simmer for another 5 minutes. Sauce is done.

Add to a hot skillet. Add a bit of heavy cream and mix. Stir in gnocchi and add a healthy does of parmesan.


Things I don't have in my kitchen and now I probably won't live without: hand blender and a scale.

 

[Capt Caveman]

 

[RichardE]

Welcome to the wonderful world of cooking. You will proceed to spend massive amounts of money trying recipes here and there, have fun


Btw, going to try this tonight

 

[JDub02]

Originally posted by: RichardE
Welcome to the wonderful world of cooking. You will proceed to spend massive amounts of money trying recipes here and there, have fun


Btw, going to try this tonight

My wife and I eat in alot. But we do the "semi"-homemade .... boil some store-bought pasta and open a jar of store-bought sauce.

The difference between that and using fresh ingredients is amazing.

 

[queenrobot]

Homemade sauce FTW!

 

[Insomniator]

Cheap sauce like ragu or prego is down right inedible. The more expensive stuff (namely, victorias) is sooooo much better and is good enough for me not to want to spend 3 hours making my own.

 

[eplebnista]

I fail at cooking, so I'll just stick to Newman's Own.

 

[dakels]

When I want fresh sauces I make my own. It's not the same as a deep slow cooked tomato sauce though and I don't have to time to make that. What I do is buy good bottled sauces and modify it myself. A for instance would be sautee garlic and mushrooms in extra virgin olive oil, then add a decent store bought sauce (Rao's, Victoria, Classico, local), fresh olive oil, herbs, red wine. Something like that is often a much tastier sauce then straight out of the bottle. Also the store bought vary a lot. I bought some some San Marzano volcanic tomato sauce which was really good. Too expensive though at $9/bottle. It all depends on what I am eating and how I am eating it. The key thing for me about store bought sauces is avoiding corn syrup and soy bean oil (always look for extra virgin olive oil).

To each his own though. If you love some oversweet ragu over my san marzano home made sauce, then so be it.

 

[keird]

Modified from here because I didn't have a pie crust. This instead of Easy-Broccili-Quiche, I modded it to Impossibly Easy. It was so fluffy and delicious.

4 tablespoons butter
1 onion, minced
1 teaspoon minced garlic
2 cups chopped fresh broccoli
1/2 cup Bisquick
1 1/2 cups shredded montarey jack cheese
4 eggs, well beaten
1 1/2 cups milk
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).

2. Over medium-low heat melt butter in a large saucepan. Add onions, garlic and broccoli.

3. Cook slowly, stirring occasionally until the vegetables are soft. Spoon vegetables into a greased 9" pie pan and sprinkle with cheese.

4. Combine Bisquick, eggs and milk. Season with salt and pepper. Pour batter over vegetables and cheese.

5. Bake in preheated oven for 30 minutes, or until center has set.

 

[ElFenix]

saute garlic in olive oil
add 14 oz canned peeled tomatoes
cook 20 minutes
add 3 tablespoons chopped basil and 1 oz butter
salt to taste

WIN!

 

[fbrdphreak]

I make a very similar sauce, except instead of wine I use vodka. I also add crushed red pepper flakes for some kick. Soak the red pepper flakes in 1/2-1 cup of vodka, for up to an hour (I don't usually have that long, but the longer the better). Saute the veggies, then add the vodka mix and let it simmer until it reduces. Then add sauce & let simmer. Add heavy cream and let simmer.

I don't think whole tomatoes are necessary, but if you can get fresh ones I think it would be worth it. I use a 28oz can of crushed tomatoes and a 16oz can of tomato sauce.

You should try letting it simmer longer - the longer the better. The times you listed are really the minimum IMO.

Also, try not sauteing(SP?) the carrots in the beginning. Instead, after you add the tomatoes & sauce to your sauteed veggies, peel the carrots into the sauce and let the carrot peels cook with the sauce. Gives it a nice texture and taste.

And as you noted, fresh >>>>> dried. See if you have an Asian Market in your town - I think the one in my town is called Grand Asia Market - i.e. the place that has everything written in Chinese and English, where all the Asians shop for groceries! The one here has fresh veggies year round and very inexpensive too.

 

[KeithTalent]

Originally posted by: queenrobot
Homemade sauce FTW!

This. Once you go homemade you never go back.

KT

 

[skrilla]

Yep... I got a crockpot this Xmas and have made homemade sauce a couple times. Still looking for the perfect recipe. I have a good one that uses chunky veggies like green, red, and yellow peppers, but just trying to get it right.

 

[Fritzo]

For those with no time, try Barilla sauce from the store. I think they have a special jarring process that captures the acids from the tomatoes so it doesn't break down. Top notch stuff.

 

[Descartes]

I make fresh marinara all the time, especially when the tomatoes in our backyard start ripening. My sauce is similar to yours, but I can be done with it in less than 15 minutes:

1) Deseed tomatoes. I use about 2 pounds.
2) Chop tomatoes.
3) Saute some garlic and onion. I use about 3 cloves and 2 medium-sized onions.
4) Add a few pinches of salt.
4) Chop a good amount of fresh basil and fresh Italian parsley. Some like more, some less. I just take a handful of each. Fresh is key here. It makes all the difference.
5) Let everything cook until the flesh of the tomatoes are soft.
6) Food mill/food process until it has the consistency you like. I don't like it pureed.
7) Let it simmer a little more. Garnish the top with some more fresh parsley and basil.

Takes about 15-20 minutes at most.

 

[GagHalfrunt]

MMMMM, homemade gnocchi sounds really good too. Maybe tomorrow I'll make a batch with a little gorgonzola sauce.

 

[nageov3t]

I love homemade sauce from scratch in the summertime when I can get fresh tomatoes from my mom's garden.

once the growing season's over, though, I've never tasted much difference between generic grocery store tomatoes flown in from mexico versus canned tomatoes.

 

[zinfamous]

welcome to cooking.

 

[RagingBITCH]

Originally posted by: zinfamous
welcome to cooking.

 

[AstroManLuca]

Originally posted by: eplebnista
I fail at cooking, so I'll just stick to Newman's Own.

Yeah I use Newman's Own too. I really do prefer homemade sauce but I don't have the time or the will to clean up. I hate washing dishes.

 

[DnetMHZ]

Few things are easier to make and improve a meal more than homemade tomato sauce. I make a big batch every few weeks and freeze it in meal sized portions.

 

[silverpig]

Here's one that's a little nicer, but more work:

Take about 20 fresh roma tomatoes, roast 10 in the oven, and deseed and roughly chop the other 10. When the roasted ones have slightly black skins, take them out, let them cool, deseed and chop them too.

Put a little olive oil in a pan, and saute some evenly diced onions until soft. Add a healthy dose of fresh chopped garlic (5-6 cloves). Saute for 1 minute, deglaze with a little red wine.

Add the tomatoes, stir, and bring to a simmer.

Add a large bunch of fresh italian parsley, a large bunch of fresh basil, some spinach leaves, and some fresh oregano, all roughly chopped. Let simmer for 30-40 minutes.

Transfer to a blender and blend well, on high.

Pour from the blender through a strainer (very important), and push the sauce through. You'll catch a lot of fibrous stuff that makes the sauce taste raw (the stuff you get is a lot like tomato paste).

Return the newly strained sauce to a clean pot, and bring to a simmer. If the sauce is too runny, keep it at a low simmer until it reduces enough to thicken to your liking. Taste the sauce (it probably won't taste all that great), and add a little bit of salt. Stir and re-taste. Keep adding salt and tasting until you notice the flavour change. If you do this properly it's really amazing what happens. The flavour changes completely just by adding salt, yet it doesn't get salty. It's really quite dramatic.

Once you've adjusted the salt, add some heavy cream, bring back to a simmer, then serve.