No more canned tomato sauce! No need to buy another pre-fab tomato sauce. This simple tomato sauce will not only save you money but it will taste better. You can make a large batch and freeze it for all sorts of future dishes.
Ingredients:
2 Tsp extra virgin olive oil
1 medium onion, diced
3-5 cloves garlic, crushed and sliced thinly
1/2 to 1 cup diced, fresh basil. (It’s your call. I usually use close to a cup)
1/2 cup red wine. (Good enough quality to drink)
1 Tsp sugar (or Splenda)
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 28 oz. can crushed or diced tomatoes.
1 t lemon juice (optional)
Preparation:
Sauté onions in olive oil over low heat, covered, for 10-12 minutes.
Add garlic and basil, re-cover, for another 5 minutes or so.
Uncover and add wine. Reduce by about half.
Add tomatoes and S & P and simmer for 15 minutes. You can reduce the sauce further and intensify the flavor. We like to add the lemon juice about 3-4 minutes before finishing.
Fresh Italian Parsley can be added at the end if you like it.
If you have good fresh tomatoes, blanch them in boiling water until the skins are loose and wrinkled. Cool in cold water and remove skins before dicing. If you squeeze through strainer with mesh small enough to catch the seeds, the removal of the seeds will make the sauce a little less bitter. We usually don’t remove the seeds. We can’t tell that it makes enough difference to go to the trouble). Like I said earlier, feel free to double or triple the batch and use it for all your favorite dishes.
{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
I made this sauce to use with your whole wheat pizza recipe, it was really good. Thanks.
Hi
How much fresh parsley should I use in this recipe. Also, what purpose does the lemon juice serve in this tomato sauce, I’ve never seen a recipe that uses lemon juice in a tomato sauce.
@Jackie – the fresh parsely amount doesn’t really matter – You can just toss in a handful. I find the lemon juice just balances the flavors and adds a nice suprise.
{ 5 trackbacks }