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Use the excess harvest from your garden, or seek out tomatoes at farmers’ markets, which sometimes sell their slightly bruised or blemished fruit in bulk for a great bargain. Traditional recipes often call for paste or plum tomatoes, like the Roma variety, since they have thicker skin, firmer flesh, and less moisture (which means they peel easier, boil down faster on the stovetop, and make a denser sauce in less time).īut because this sauce requires no peeling, I’m a fan of using any and all tomatoes, including cherry and grape varieties. What are the best types of tomatoes to use for skins-on tomato sauce?Īny blemish-free, vine-ripened, firm-fleshed tomato can be used for sauce. A shorter cooking time (I usually never go more than half an hour) means you retain more of that fresh tomato flavor. I tend to cook the tomato sauce for less time than most recipes recommend, since I know I’ll be cooking it even more when I make the actual sauce. The unadulterated tomato sauce is a good base for homemade ketchup, tomato chutney, tomato jam, and salsa as well, or you can simply stir it into minestrone soup, Spanish rice, or any recipe that calls for crushed or diced tomatoes. Pasta sauce isn’t the only thing you can make with your pureed tomatoes, however. You can also take the edge off a bitter tomato sauce by stirring in 1 tablespoon butter until it melts. Taste, and keep adding tiny amounts of baking soda to see if it helps neutralize the acidity. Quick tip: To save a bitter tomato sauce, stir 1/4 teaspoon baking soda into 1 cup sauce while it’s simmering. Whatever the mood may be, I like having a neutral sauce that I can add my garlic, onions, peppers, herbs, and spices to, without being tied down to a specific flavor profile.īy starting with a basic tomato sauce, you also reduce the chances of ending up with a bitter-tasting sauce, which sometimes happens with overcooked spices. Some nights I might be feeling classic Italian marinara with basil, oregano, and garlic, other nights I might want a little arrabbiata action, and there are nights I might go for this spicy minty tomato sauce. I prefer to keep the sauce simple as it gives me more options when cooking. (Unless you’re planning to can the sauce for storage, in which case you’ll need to add bottled lemon juice for safe canning.) This is a basic sauce that omits the labor-intensive blanching, peeling, seeding, and straining of more traditional sauces. The secret to a fresh and flavorful tomato sauce from scratch
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