Basic tomato sauce?

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daddyzaring

Smoking Fanatic
Original poster
Nov 7, 2009
622
12
I bought a bunch of tomatos to make into sauce, mostly a Pasta sauce. What I am thinking is cutting them into quarters, cleaning out the seed, and cooking them down some before I put them into the food processor. Woould this work okay to put away until I am ready to add/cook in the other ingredients (maybe a couple days or so)? Would I need to skin/peel them before this too? I paln on adding italian seasonings, garlic, sugar, chopped up roma tomatos, and red wine, when I finish it up.
Any ideas and/or opinions are welcome, please.
Thank you,
Jeff
 
If you drop them into boiling water for just a moment or two then shock them in a ice bath the skin will just fall off. I do it this way and leave the seeds myself, but thats just me.
 
Yes but do I need to since I am also running them through the food processor?
I have never made a sauce from scratch before, actually I have never been able to make a good sauce that didn't come out of a can or bottle. I tried bbq sauce once and it just didn't come out right. I really want this one to come out good. lol
Also If I do peel the tomatos for the sauce should I peel the roma tomatos I will be chopping up and adding later? I am wanting to use them to thicken, or make the sauce a little chunkier, along with the other ingredient I will be adding?
 
To make a great tomato sauce I would get rid of the skin. If you look at canned maters in the store they have whole, crushed, diced, sauce and paste but all are skinned.
 
Yes as ME says you need to remove the skin from all maters used to make sauce.
Also ,If you use fresh herbs, You will come out w/ a much tatsier sauce.
 
Here is a recipe i like to use. Just multiply for the ammount of tomatos you have.

Ingredients
  • 10 ripe tomatoes
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 2 tablespoons butter
  • 1 onion, chopped
  • 1 green bell pepper, chopped
  • 2 carrots, chopped
  • 4 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1/4 cup chopped fresh basil
  • 1/4 teaspoon Italian seasoning
  • 1/4 cup Burgundy wine (optional)
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 2 stalks celery
  • 2 tablespoons tomato paste
Directions
  1. Bring a pot of water to a boil. Have ready a large bowl of iced water. Plunge whole tomatoes in boiling water until skin starts to peel, 1 minute. Remove with slotted spoon and place in ice bath. Let rest until cool enough to handle, then remove peel and squeeze out seeds. Chop 8 tomatoes and puree in blender or food processor. Chop remaining two tomatoes and set aside.
  2. In a large pot or Dutch oven over medium heat, cook onion, bell pepper, carrot and garlic in oil and butter until onion starts to soften, 5 minutes. Pour in pureed tomatoes. Stir in chopped tomato, basil, Italian seasoning and wine. Place bay leaf and whole celery stalks in pot. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low, cover and simmer 2 hours. Stir in tomato paste and simmer an additional 2 hours. Discard bay leaf and celery and serve.
 
Garlic, basil, evoo and wine is what I like to start out with. after that its a pinch of this and that. Mine never comes out the same twice.
 
The recipe I learned from growing up with Italian neighbors is simple is better.
I take my tomatoes and drop them in boiling water for about a minute to loosen the skins. I peel them and cut them lengthwise and remove the seeds and put them through the food mill. I then put some EVOO in a dutch oven and saute some garlic. When the garlic is a light brown. I add the tomatoes. I season it with salt and CBL I will take a ham bone from a smoke and put it in the pot and simmer for 5-6 hours. Enjoy
Bill
 
that's where it came from. i add things and subtract things . but it's a great recipe to start with.
 
My great grandmother from Naples made it this way. Only difference I use a crock pot instead of the stove. All ingredients are to taste.

San Marzano Tomatoes

Onions and Garlic sauteed in EVOO

Lots of Fresh Basil

Little bit of Oregano

Splash of Chianti

Peel the tomatoes.

Remove as many seeds as you can.

Chop tomatoes coarsely in food processor.

Throw it all in the crock pot for 8 hours.

Eat.
 
I think I am giving up on making tamato sauce from scratch, it still come out too watery.
 
One of the tricks to making good sauce is using "meaty" tomatoes like Roma, or if you are trying to use up what's in the garden then use mostly the flesh and not so much of the juice. I clean out my 'maters and only use the flesh for a more concentrated flavor.
 
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