How to Make Tomato Sauce
Many novice cooks are frightened away from making tomato-based sauces from scratch and instead rely on the tinny, preservative-ridden kind you find in a jar. This is a shame, because they're really easy to make. Our tomato tips include tips on making tomato sauce and general tomato preparation.
Nutritional Information
Serving size: 1 medium tomato (148g)
35 Calories --- 1g Protein --- 7g Carbohydrates
1g Fat --- 0mg cholesterol --- 5mg sodium --- 1g fiber
Selecting and Storing
Good-quality tomatoes will be firm, smooth-skinned and be at least pink in color. Tomatoes that are partially green will ripen if left at room temperature. Avoid product that is too soft, wrinkled or that has broken skin. Tomatoes with a green blush will ripen, but avoid product with blotchy green or brown areas. Do not refrigerate tomatoes! They will retain their flavor and ripen correctly at room temperature. Once they are ripe, use within 3 days.
Slicing Raw Tomatoes
When cutting something that has a tough skin but is soft inside, like bread or tomatoes, use a sharp, serrated knife. It helps you cut through the skin without mushing up the inside.
Blanching
The hardest part is removing the skins, and even that is easy when you know how to blanch--just drop the tomatoes in boiling water for about half a minute, then fish them out with a slotted spoon and run cold water over them. Cut off the vine end of the tomato with a serrated knife, and the skins will slide right off with a gentle squeeze. Now, what to do with the naked, slimy things?
Cooking
We recommend dicing them and then cooking them in a saucepan with a small amount (perhaps half a teaspoon per small tomato) of olive oil. This will result in a fairly chunky sauce; if you prefer a smoother texture, just toss them into a blender. Of course, the mixture will need a lot of seasoning to taste like anything you'd expect.
Seasoning the Sauce
Ahhh, seasoning. This is where making your own sauce begins to truly pay off! The basic piece of information you need to know is that sugar cuts the tanginess of a virgin tomato sauce. Don't be shy about it--depending on the amount of sauce, you may have to add several tablespoons. If you add a little too much, you can cut the sweetness with a little bit of salt. In fact, you might wish to add salt and pepper to taste at this point, anyhow.
Variations in Sauce
After you have a basic tomato stock to your liking, a whole world of variations is open to you. You might even want to prepare a large quantity of basic sauce in small containers for freezing, and use each container for a different tomato-based meal. For a basic spaghetti sauce, add oregano, basil and garlic powder or sauteed garlic to taste. Other touches you can add would be sauteed mushrooms or onions; white wine; diced, cooked chicken or ground beef; parmesan, romano or reggiano cheese; or even sauteed vegetables, such as summer squash and spinach. Once you have the basic sauce down, variations can be endless!
