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Favorite Pasta Sauce Recipe?

Blue OnionBlue Onion Posts: 2,995
in The potting shed
Whelp.. I actually grew a large number of slicing tomatoes to ripeness.  Split tops, but everything else about them is great.  Now time for turning them into delicious pasta sauce.  Do you have a favorite to share?  (I prefer something that doesn't take fancy tools, like one of those tomato mill things many recipes call for.) 
Utah, USA.
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  • FatsiaFatsia Posts: 35
    I like to fill a baking dish with chopped up toms, plenty of salt pepper, olive oil, a glug of balsamic, 6 cloves of garlic, just peeled and roast slowly. When everything is nicely cooked down, smash with a fork, chuck on your pasta and enjoy with a nice sprinkling of parmesan. Easy and really delicious! 
  • Pete.8Pete.8 Posts: 11,340
    I fry/sweat onions and garlic in olive oil to soften them and remove the rawness.
    Sometimes I add sliced red peppers and fry for a few more minutes and add some chili (so it's more of an Arrabiata sauce).
    Then I add lots of tomatoes (add a little salt at the start) and just let it bubble away. Mash up the tomatoes, reduce it a bit then add LOTS of dried basil and leave to simmer for 10-15 mins check seasoning - and that's it.
    Great with pasta, or I often chuck in a handful of prawns and have it with rice.


    Billericay - Essex

    Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit.
    Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad.
  • ObelixxObelixx Posts: 30,090
    When I have loads of tomatoes I clean, core and chop them then boil them down to a thick pulp, blitz and bottle for use over the winter in soups and sauces.   

    When I'm making a simple tomato sauce for one meal I just cook enough for that meal and add grated or chopped garlic, a fresh herb such as rosemary or thyme at the beginning or basil at the end.  Sometimes I include some white wine or Vermouth.   Sometimes a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil.  Freshly chopped chilli or dried chilli flakes are another option.

    If I want protein too I fry off some lardons at the start till they start to go brown and then I drain off the excess fat and add the tomatoes, wine, herbs or chillies and cook it all together while the pasta cooks or I'll add prawns nearer the end of cooking.
    Vendée - 20kms from Atlantic coast.
    "The price good men (and women) pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men (and women)."
    Plato
  • edhelkaedhelka Posts: 2,351
    I follow the idea which I've heard from an Italian chef that tomatoes should be either cooked quickly (5-10 minutes to stay fresh and acidic) or for a long time (30-45 minutes for the maximum sweetness).
    So for the usual mid-week cooking, I usually do something quick, with onion and garlic or without, with herbs from the garden.
    For storing, I do the long-cooked sauce. Olive oil to a pan(a lot of it), I fry diced onion and garlic to soften, add tomatoes (peeled and chopped), a twig of rosemary, a twig of thyme, and basil (all herbs get removed after cooking, so no need to chop them), cook for 30+ minutes (adding water if needed), then salt, pepper, a tiny bit of balsamic vinegar and sugar if needed to taste. And for storing, I usually add more fresh basil in the jars before pouring the sauce and sterilizing.
  • Jason-3Jason-3 Posts: 391
    My Italian grandad taught me two very basic recipes. 
    In essence he used cherry Tom's to create a very quick sauce to coat various pasta. Recipe chop in half cherry Tom's in a large steal pan with olive oil. Add 3 cloves garlic, salt, pepper, dry basil, parsley. Cook on a medium heat for 10 mins or until Tom's have sweated down

    Second recipe is for a ragu or passata sauce. Plum/beefstake type. In a large pan, lots of garlic, olive oil, salt, pepper, dry basil, parsley, tyme. Sweat down. Then add one cup red wine, one cup water. Cook for 30-40 kins. Add bunch fresh basil at the end. 

    A mistake I was making for this type of sauce was adding carrots, celary or onion. Which is fine if you are making a bolognase or Greek type stifado. A true tomato sauce won't have any of them and imo detracts from the taste of your lovely toms
  • Blue OnionBlue Onion Posts: 2,995
    Thanks for the recommendation and recipes!  I'll try them all out over the month and let you know how they go!
    Utah, USA.
  • ObelixxObelixx Posts: 30,090
    @Blue Onion If you have lots of cherry toms you could try just splitting them in half and laying them cut side up on roasting trays and then semi-dry them in a low oven (with fan if poss but not essential) for a few hours.   Sprinkle with a bit of salt and pepper towards the end if you like then, when ready, pack into sterilised jars, cover with olive oil and shake to eliminate air bubbles then give them the water bath treatment to complete sterilisation.

    Store in a cool, dark cupboard and use for bruschetta or to add intensity to a tomato based sauce.   I did this last year and they've been wonderful.  I did some plain and some with added fresh herbs during the drying session and some with garlic.   Yum.  I shall do it with some of the remaining cherry toms this coming week as the later plants I sowed from seed are only just ripening.
    Vendée - 20kms from Atlantic coast.
    "The price good men (and women) pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men (and women)."
    Plato
  • steephillsteephill Posts: 2,841
    Look for Marcella Hazan's tomato sauce recipe, probably the most famous one on the internet. Tomatoes, butter, onion and salt. I have been making her ragu recipe for years which is sublime. Takes about 5 hours per batch but it is very much worth the effort.
  • josusa47josusa47 Posts: 3,530
    We have this every week:  one or two (depending on size) carrots, sticks of celery and onions, and a pepper; one or more cloves of garlic if you like it.  Chop it all small, put it in a pan with a glug of olive oil, put on a lid and cook over low heat for about 10 minutes.  Then add your tomatoes: we use a carton of passata, but whatever you've got.  If you need more liquid, add stock or red wine.  Simmer until the vegetables are however soft you like them.  Liquidise, or not.
  • Blue OnionBlue Onion Posts: 2,995
    @Obelixx. Do you suppose I could freeze them in the olive oil?  Probably in small sandwich bags inside a freezer bag, to create portions.  I don't have jars, lids, rings, etc. and am not keen to invest yet.  I do have tons of cherry tomatoes though.  I tried making pasta sauce with them last year.. but they are just too sweet (never thought I would say that!).. it was like putting candy syrup over my pasta.  
    Utah, USA.
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