(My mom’s) EASY TOMATO SAUCE
Wondering what on God’s green earth you’re going to do with the bounty of tomatoes that keeps coming, and coming, and coming at this time of year? How about making a batch of my mom’s crazy easy, super delicious TOMATO SAUCE? This is not your typical recipe that calls for peeling and seeding and hours in the kitchen. Nope! This quick version doesn’t waste time or resources, can be made in small batches (but scales like a breeze), works great with garden, road-side-stand, or store bought tomatoes, and freezes magnificently for year-round enjoyment.
Servings: ~ 3 1/2 - 4 (1 cup servings)
Prep time: 10 -15 minutes
Cook time: 30 - 45 minutes
Skill level: Easy
INGREDIENTS
1 medium ONION, chopped
1/2 cup OLIVE OIL
4 large (3 cups) TOMATOES, cored and chopped
1 teaspoon SALT
1/4 teaspoon PEPPER
1 teaspoon dried OREGANO
1 teaspoon PAPRIKA
Pinch of SUGAR
Fresh PARSLEY, chopped - optional
DIRECTIONS
In a large saucepan, sauté onion in oil until soft. Lightly salt, if you’d like.
Add remaining ingredients.
Simmer 30 minutes.
Use hand immersion blender to make smooth or add ingredients to a blender and puree to preferred consistency.
Add fresh parsley, to taste, if desired.
Use in favorite recipe or freeze for future use.
NOTES/VARIATIONS
My mom says, "Play with it. You’ll find many uses." It’s been a staple for as long as she can remember!
Use in recipes like stuffed peppers or cabbage, marinara or spaghetti sauce, soups, chili, or anything that calls for tomato soup/sauce as an ingredient. Can be added it to jarred spaghetti sauces for a homegrown appeal.
You don’t have to peel and seed the tomatoes - in fact, not doing so adds to the nutrition and the thickness of the sauce. However, if you absolutely must, you can certainly go through the trouble. It’s up to you.
While I do recommend making this recipe “as is” at least one time to get a feel for the spirit of the sauce before playing with it, as with many of the recipes I post, this one has a few potential variations. Here are a few suggestions to inspire you:
Use dried or fresh herbs, just keep in mind that you’ll need to convert the measurements. This site will help.
Not a fan of oregano? Basil will be a fabulous swap.
Wondering where the garlic is? Add some! Fresh or dried works well just use a light hand so it doesn’t overpower the sauce (unless you want it to, of course).
You can “ish” any of the measurements and adjust up or down to your liking within reason. For instance, if you don’t want a lot of salt, you can reduce it or use a favorite herbal substitute. Didn’t realize you were almost out of olive oil and fell a little short? It’s okay to use a scant measurement or, try butter, bacon fat, or coconut oil to make up the difference.
Want to make a bacon sauce? Cook up a pound of chopped bacon, set it aside, follow the recipe as written except leave out the olive oil (cook the onions in the fat instead), then toss back the cooked bacon after you’ve finished the sauce and pureed it. Whoa - talk about rich!
Add or subtract ingredients. While this is no longer tomato sauce if you leave them out (I mean, after all, this is a “tomato” sauce recipe), there’s nothing that says you can’t toss in a bit of shredded zucchini, peppers, or additional herbs. Not big in to black pepper or oregano? Leave it out, I won’t tell!
Want a dreamy-creamy version? Before serving, add a bit of preferred milk, sour cream, or plain yogurt to the sauce and mix well. Start with 1 tablespoon and adjust from there. Dairy alternatives work well just make sure that they do not contain carrageenan or other undesirable additives. For instance, if you are purchasing coconut milk, the ingredients should read: coconut milk. That’s it.
To thicken the sauce further, you can reduce it over medium heat, stirring frequently or add some tomato paste.
Top with some cheese before serving, like parmesan, for a gourmet finish. Can’t “do” cheese? While the casserole is perfectly tasty without it, Violife brand of vegan cheeze is a surprisingly good substitute. It even melts a bit for that gooey texture. Some folks who can’t tolerate regular dairy do very well with goat’s milk or raw dairy cheeses. Most grocery stores carry at least a few options. If none of those work for you, and you still want that cheesy flavor, nutritional yeast is just that with the added bonus of naturally occurring B vitamins.
As articulated in the What’s for Dinner article, always aim for the highest quality ingredients.
CREDITS/REFERENCES
Thumbnail photo credit: Picking tomatoes at Victoria Point, 1937 | GIANT TOMATO SOLD… | Flickr
As noted, this is my mom’s recipe. I remember her telling me about her delicious discovery a long time ago with great excitement and how she said it was incredibly easy it was to make. I have had the pleasure of enjoying this sauce over the years and hope you are fortunate enough to do the same!