Homemade tomato sauce is always a better alternative than the canned one which you bought in the stores. It is much cheaper and certainly healthier. Tomato sauce is a part of every cuisine around the world. It is found in Italian pasta, Mexican enchilada sauce and many others.
Tomato sauce is delicious natural additive which you can add to your favorite dishes such as pasta, pizza, meat etc. Also, it is rich in nutrients such as vitamin A and C. Moreover, tomatoes are loaded with the antioxidant lycopene and fibers.
Tomato sauce from fresh tomatoes, basil and garlic:
Preparation time: 10 minutes
Cooking time: 2 hours
Total time: 2 hours and 10 minutes
Serves: 6-8 people
Ingredients:
5 pounds of fresh tomatoes, peeled and seeded (to peel, cut a small “x” on the top and drop in to boiling water for 10 seconds and drop in to an ice bath. Skin will easily peel off)
1 carrot (1/2 should be grated and added to sauce, the other half should be added at the end of cooking and then removed)
¼ cup olive oil (or tallow)
3 medium onions, diced
8 cloves of fresh garlic (or more to taste), finely minced
⅓ cup fresh basil leaves, finely chopped
1 sprig of fresh thyme leaves (or ½ tsp dried)
1 sprig of fresh oregano (or 1 teaspoon dried oregano)
2 bay leaves (remove when done)
2 sprigs of parsley (or 1 tsp dried)
1 tablespoon of honey
1 teaspoon sea salt
Instructions:
Place the olive oil in a large stockpot over a medium heat. Then add grated onions, diced onions and garlic. Sauté the mixture for 6-8 minutes until the onions become semitransparent. Add tomatoes, thyme bay leaves, parsley, chopped basil leaves, oregano and sea salt.
Simmer on low heat for 2-3 hours until they start to darken. Add a piece of carrot in the last 30 minutes to absorb the acidity form the tomatoes. Remove the herb sprigs and the piece of carrot.
Optionally, you can use immersion blender to mix the sauce until it becomes smooth (if you want your sauce to be thicker, skip this step). You can use it fresh or keep it in a fridge up to 1 week, or can it.
This delicious sauce can be used with the following meals:
Chicken parmesan
Chicken cacciatore
Meatza
Zucchini lasagna