The Best Tomato Sauce for Pasta

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Making Tomato-Based Pasta Sauce Without a Recipe

Almost everyone loves pasta with a great red sauce. Learn how to make a great red sauce--either from fresh or canned tomatoes--without a strict recipe. Included will be several variations on the theme, ideas for pairing sauces and pasta, some product and ingredient recommendations and how to turn that sauce into anything from a lasagna component to an Italian tomato soup!






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Tomato Sauce--The Master "Recipe"

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Basic tomato sauce really couldn't be easier, especially if you use canned tomatoes. While I am normally a big fan of using fresh ingredients whenever possible, the "fresh" tomatoes you can find in the grocery store year round have been bred to be sturdy, not tasty. On the other hand, high quality canned tomatoes are canned at the peak of freshness when they taste their best. If you have fresh tomatoes that taste like tomatoes, by all means use them. Otherwise, stick with canned.

Like I said, there really is no set recipe and no real set proportions. Here's a list of what you'll need and some loose guidelines for amounts. Optional ingredients are in parentheses:

  • olive oil-2-4 TBSP
  • chopped onion--1 medium
  • minced garlic--1-2 cloves
  • tomato paste--1-2 TBSP
  • honey, sugar or Agasweet--1-2 teaspoons
  • (sun-dried tomatoes)--2-4 TBSP, chopped or minced
  • kosher salt and black pepper--to taste
  • (red pepper flake)--to taste
  • dried Italian seasoning--1-1 1/2 teaspoons (use fresh herbs if you have them--rosemary, thyme and oregano are nice)
  • wine, broth or stock--1/2-1 cup
  • canned tomatoes: whole/diced/pureed--2 large cans
  • (a little more olive oil)--just a drizzle

    What to Do

    1. Heat a heavy-bottomed pan over medium heat
    2. Put the olive oil in the pan and wait for it to shimmer
    3. Add the chopped onion, minced garlic, salt and pepper
    4. Let sizzle until onion is translucent
    5. Add red pepper flake, Italian seasoning, tomato paste and honey/sugar/Agasweet. Before adding the dried herbs, rub them firmly to release their essential oils.
    6. Stir and cook for a minute or two
    7. Add the sun-dried tomatoes
    8. Add the wine/stock/broth--even water, and reduce by half
    9. Add the tomatoes and heat through
    10. Taste; add more salt/pepper if necessary
    11. Let simmer for at least 15 minutes.
    12. Add a splash of Extra Virgin Olive Oil and stir in

    You can adjust the texture of the sauce by deciding what form of canned tomato you use. You can also choose to put your sauce through a food mill or use a stick blender to make the texture finer. It's your sauce, and it's entirely up to you.
  • Tools for Pureeing Your Tomato Sauce

    How Smooth Do You Like Your Sauce

    You can leave your sauce chunky, or you can puree part or all of it. It is entirely up to you and it depends completely on the texture that you want your sauce to have. Think about how you'll use the sauce. If it's for a pizza, you'll probably want it pretty smooth. For lasagna? Probably a little chunky. However smooth or chunky you want your tomato sauce to be, one of these tools can help you achieve the perfect texture.
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    How To Make Tomato Sauce Video

    For you visual learners out there.

    This recipe isn't quite like mine, but that's the beauty of tomato sauce--not everyone's has to be the same as everyone else's. There's no one right way to make a tomato-based pasta sauce. This information should be liberating, freeing you to experiment in the kitchen!
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    The Perfect Sauce-Making Pan

    The Cuisinart 5 1/2 quart Saute Pan

    Please buy good equipment. You don't have to spend a billion dollars, but a heavy-bottomed saute pan will serve you well for many years. This Cuisinart model costs less than $60.00 through Amazon.com!

    The Cuisinart Chef's Classic Stainless 5-1/2-Quart Saute Pan is a perfect pan for making tomato or meat sauce. The all-metal construction allows you to put it in the oven, too, for braising or stewing. The wide cooking surface lets your sauce reduce fairly quickly, helping to concentrate the flavors in your food.

    Aprons from CafePress

    No matter what kind of pasta sauce you make, the common denominator seems to be "messy." Save your clothes, and wear an apron!
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    “Pair a chunky sauce with a hearty pasta shape. Pair a smoother sauce with long, thin pasta shapes.”

    Gourmet Pasta Shapes to Pair with Your Tomato Sauce

    Large shapes for chunky sauces, small or thin shapes for smoother sauces

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    If You're Feeling Spunky, Make Your Own Pasta!

    If you're going to go, go big! To make your life easier, you can do this in a food processor, too.
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    You Can Also Make Semolina Pasta

    Watch this great video for an in depth look at making semolina pasta from a Real Italian Grandmother!
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    Mouthwatering Pasta Pictures

    Kind of makes you want to cook, huh?

    I selected these lovely pictures of tomato-based sauces and pasta. Now that you see how easy it is to make tomato sauce, your lovely pasta pictures will be up on Flickr in no time!

    Spaghetti and Meatballs (explore) by jshj
    Spaghetti All' Arrabbiata by Sebastian Mary
    Bow tie pasta with striped sauce by jugglerpm
    Creamy Tomato Sauce by thebittenword.com
    curated content from Flickr

    To Make a Great Tomato Sauce, You Have to Start with Great Tomatoes

    In the winter, buy the best canned tomatoes you can get your hands on.

    The San Marzano variety of plum tomato is considered by many to be the finest sauce tomato around. Buy a can or two and experience the San Marzano difference. The Titina's are available in a case of 12. Buy in bulk and share with your friends. Or use them all yourself. Either way, you'll save a bundle.
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    Layer the Tomato Flavors in Your Tomato Sauce

    A combination of tomatoes, tomato paste and sun-dried tomatoes will make your sauce pop!

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    Turn Your Tomato Sauce Into a Meat Sauce

    For the Carnivore In You

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    It's a pretty easy thing to turn your tomato sauce into a meat sauce. I promise. Use the basic recipe up there and make these modifications:

    Additions for a lovely meat sauce

  • 1-2 pounds of ground beef/Italian sausage/ground pork/minced lamb/ground turkey--any combination that you like
  • carrot, cut in small dice
  • celery, cut into thin slices
  • Other spices complementary to the meat you have chosen

  • What to Do
    Follow the instructions for basic tomato sauce with these modifications:

    1. Add carrot and celery along with the onions and garlic
    2. Add the meat once the vegetables are translucent. Depending on how fatty the your meat is, you might want to skim off some of the fat after the meat has browned
    3. continue adding ingredients--double the amount of wine/broth/stock
    4. add complementary dried herbs/spices with the pepper flake and any fresh herbs towards the end of cooking
    5. Meat sauce is perfectly happy to gently simmer for 2-3 hours, just don't let it reduce too much so it doesn't burn.

    Again, you can adjust the texture of your sauce by controlling how much you break up your tomatoes and/or meat. Feel free to use a stick blender to homogenize the sauce a bit--just don't blend it smooth. Meat sauce should be a little chunky.

    You Can Personalize Your Tomato Sauce

    Make It Your Own

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    Variations on the Theme

    Here is a list of other yummy ingredients that you can add to your sauce to make it unique and to vary the flavor. Play with your food!

    Vegetables

    bell pepper
    marinated red pepper
    fennel
    spinach
    summer squash/zucchini
    fresh, flavorful tomatoes
    eggplant--salted, drained and rinsed
    broccoli
    cauliflower
    chard
    kale
    etc.

    Herbs/Spices

    small pinch of cinnamon (nice with lamb)
    a few gratings of fresh nutmeg (nice with spinach)
    toasted pine nuts
    small pinch of allspice or clove
    cumin
    mint
    bay leaf
    star anise
    lemon zest
    paprika

    For Extra Meaty Flavor
    bacon--add with the onions
    pancetta--ditto
    organ meat--will make the sauce very rich and delightful

    I am sure there are others. If you have any vegetables or spices that you like to use in your tomato sauce, please leave them in the comments, and I will add them to this list.

    When You Think Your Pasta Sauce Is Done, It's Not.

    The last steps of finishing your pasta sauce happen once you mix the pasta and sauce together. If you're just pouring sauce on cooked noodles, your dish won't be nearly as good as it could be.

    How to Finish Your Tomato Sauce

    Learn to Make a Perfect Pasta Dish

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    You've got your beautiful sauce. Now what? You will probably just cook some noodles, drain them, put some on a plate and ladle some sauce on top. I beg you to stop this! Your sauce isn't finished, yet. With just a couple of extra steps and maybe 5 extra minutes, you'll have a rich and flavorful pasta dish with every noodle smothered in sauce. Sound good? Read on...

    Here is What You'll Need

  • extra virgin olive oil
  • 1-2 TBSP unsalted butter
    or
    a splash or two of heavy cream
  • some parmesan cheese--even the canned is okay for this. If you have fresh, grate some and use that
  • depending on how much pasta you're cooking, 1/4-1/2 cup pasta cooking water


  • Here's What You Do

    1. cook pasta in well-salted water (never add oil) until it is al dente. It should still be a little firm in the middle--slightly more-so than you want it to be when it's done
    2. before draining the pasta, dip out some of the cooking water and reserve
    3. drain the pasta--not thoroughly. You don't have to shake the colander forever
    4. dump the pasta back in the pan
    5. over high heat add the reserved pasta water, as much of your sauce as you like, a drizzle of olive oil and the butter or cream.
    6. Stir and stir--there will be a lot of boiling as the pasta water reduces.
    7. Once the sauce is a nice consistency, grate in a little parmesan cheese and stir that in well.
    8. remove from heat and plate
    9. finish with a light grating of cheese, a sprinkle of minced/chiffonade fresh herbs and a grind or two of black pepper

    Why do all of this?
    --Adding the pasta water and letting it reduce introduces some more starch to the sauce, lending a bit of thickening and a silky mouth feel.
    --Stirring in oil, butter and/or cream introduces a bit of fat into a more-or-less water-based sauce. This creates an emulsion and adds to the silky mouth feel.
    --Finishing the pasta in the sauce allows each noodle to absorb the flavor of the sauce as it finishes cooking.

    If you've never done this before, do try it. Even starting with jarred sauce, your finished dish can taste extra-special. You will never again dump sauce onto naked pasta!

    Turn Your Tomato or Meat Sauce Into a Component of Another Dish

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    For Lasagna

    --Mix ricotta cheese with 1 egg, salt, pepper, some grated Parmesan or Romano cheese, a little nutmeg and some minced herbs
    --Layer your sauce, lasagna noodles, ricotta mixture and maybe some mozzarella
    --Continue layering, ending with the sauce. Top with some grated Parmesan and bake until bubbly

    For Tomato Soup

    --Puree the basic tomato sauce so it is completely smooth.
    --Thin to a soup consistency with half and half and/or chicken stock/broth
    --serve with a dollop of sour cream or a drizzle of olive oil and a piece of toasted Italian bread

    For Spaghetti and Meatballs

    --Use the basic tomato sauce and simmer meatballs in it until they are cooked. For more depth of flavor, brown the meatballs before simmering.
    --For meatballs, use any combination of ground meat, an egg, some seasoned bread crumbs, Italian seasoning, salt, pepper, maybe a splash of vinegar and some grated parmesan cheese. Mix well and roll into balls.

    Other Ideas
    --Use tomato sauce as a braising liquid for any tough meat
    --Stuff pasta shells with a ricotta mixture. Top with tomato sauce or meat sauce and some cheese and bake until bubbly
    --Add some tomato sauce to a medley of sauteed vegetables for a quick Ratatouille
    --Layer lamb-based meat sauce with fried eggplant and a simple bechamel sauce for Moussaka

    Please, feel free to add to the list by leaving a comment!

    Feeling Daring? Make Your Own Pasta, Too!

    Pasta from scratch--yum!

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    A Must-Have Pasta Sauce Cookbook

    The Classico Pasta Sauce Cookbook: Tempting Home Cooked Meals Using Authentic Italian Pasta Sauces will give you the guidance you need if you're still not ready to play fast-and-loose without a recipe! Read this book, get a feel for the flavor profiles presented, and then you'll be that much more confident in your ability to make a killer pasta sauce!

    Other Great Tomato Sauce Lenses

    If you'll look over the recipes presented in these lenses, you'll see that they are all surprisingly similar. Honest--there's nothing for it but to get into the kitchen and make your own sauce! There's even a great lens about growing, harvesting and then cooking tomatoes. Enjoy!
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    Never Forget Those Who Have Less Than You

    Please take a moment and give to others

    Please help The Sauce Boss feed those in need. For more information on Planet Gumbo, please visit their website.

    A Non-Profit Foundation, Planet Gumbo and their "Planeteers" provide hope and sustenance to folks in need by feeding the needy--body and soul.

    Feeling Saucy?

    Chime in Here!

    Love red sauce? Prefer cream sauces? Let me know here. All comments are much appreciated. Thanks for visiting!

    • justin42 Mar 19, 2012 @ 3:46 pm | delete
      Thanks for the great lens. It kind of made me hungry for some pasta though. I will be trying one of your recipes for dinner tonight.
    • ViolinStudent Sep 20, 2011 @ 11:37 am | delete
      Good lens. I am amazed at the folks who pair chunky sauces with angel hair spaghetti. The tip about smooth sauce-thin noodle, chunky sauce-hearty noodle makes a lot of sense. Thanks for this page.
      -Art Haule
    • TravelingRae Jun 18, 2011 @ 9:56 pm | delete
      Yuuuuum. Great basic sauce recipe and ideas.
    • jder Jun 14, 2011 @ 4:53 pm | delete
      Did the search, found the sauce I want, now I'm going to cook it. Thanks.
    • jfield Jun 14, 2011 @ 7:20 pm | delete
      Enjoy! Nothing better than homemade pasta sauce:)
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