Tomato sauce is a sauce which can be eaten with almost any snack, appetizer, rice, noodles and just about anything. Tomato has a tangy taste and hence tantalizes the taste buds. There are various ways of making a tomato sauce and you will get huge varieties in the market. Some have ginger garlic in them while some have red pepper to bring a spicy twist to the sauce. Making a delicious tomato sauce at home is very easy and does not need many ingredients as well. Let’s find out how easily you can go about accomplishing the task.
Complexity Level: Basic
Time Required: 40-50 minutes
Resources Required:
- 5-6 red juicy tomatoes
- 5-6 cloves of garlic chopped into pieces.
- Few basil leaves
- 2-3 teaspoons of Olive oil
- Salt to taste
- Black pepper
- A large deep sauce pan
- A potato masher
- A hand blender or a stand blender (which ever is available)
Instructions:
1. Heat the pan:
Place the large sauce pan on the heat and put in the olive oil. Do not heat the oil till it starts to smoke. Only heat it for some time on low heat. The olive oil should not burn, if it does, take a different pan and oil.
2. Add the garlic:
Once the oil has heated, add the chopped garlic cloves into the oil and fry for some time. Do not let the garlic burn, else it will spoil the taste of the sauce.
3. Add the tomatoes:
Chop the tomatoes in large pieces and add them to the oil and garlic. When you chop the tomatoes do not remove the seeds and the pulp from inside. They have a great taste and give a good texture to the sauce. Due to large quantity of water in tomatoes, the oil will sizzle and start sputtering out of the pan in all directions. Reduce the heat at this time and continuously saute the tomatoes with a spatula.
4. Mash the tomatoes:
Mash the tomatoes with the potato masher until they form a pulp like consistence. Keep cooking the tomatoes on a low heat.
5. Add other ingredients:
Once the sauce starts to boil, add basil leaves, salt, pepper and some sugar granules. Salt, basil leaves and pepper will give taste to the sauce while sugar mellows down the tangy taste of the tomatoes. Sugar will also give a great shining glaze to the sauce and make it more attractive.
6. Blend the sauce:
If you are using a hand blender then insert it in the sauce pan and run it till the whole mixture turns into a thick paste. All the garlic pieces and tomatoes should get blended into a fine paste. If you are using a regular standing blender then let the tomato sauce cool down completely before you blend it. Then, pour it in the blender and blend till you get the right consistency of a sauce. Your tomato sauce is ready.
Frequently Asked Questions:
1. How to make red pepper tomato sauce?
When making the sauce, along with the garlic also fry some red pepper finely chopped. Adjust the number of red peppers as per the kind of hot flavor you want.
2. Where can I use tomato sauce?
You can use this tomato sauce as a base for spaghetti recipes, pasta recipes, chicken recipes and many more. To make it more nutritious, you can add dried mixed herbs like oregano and thyme to it.
Quick Tips:
- If you do not have a potato smasher, cook the tomatoes well and then blend them.
- Hard tomatoes with less water content will be the best for this recipe. If you don’t get those, cook the sauce till all the water is lost.
- You can preserve this sauce to be used later in the refrigerator. Use an air-tight container for storage.
Things To Watch Out For:
Keep stirring the sauce in the pan to prevent burning at the base.
