Saturday crushed tomato sauce: never buy another bottled tomato sauce again! Warning – this recipe is for those who want to make a ton of homemade tomato sauce to freeze and use at a later date. I call this recipe a “Saturday” sauce because it will take a large portion of the day to make. But it is so, so worth it…
My trips to Italy were food adventures, that brought me back to the states with ten extra pounds and a head filled with dish inspirations I desperately wanted to recreate.
After batches of trial and error to create the perfect simple crushed tomato sauce as close as I could get to the sauce I had in Italy, here is the recipe for the sauce (and extra steps to serve over pasta).
Makes: 3-4 quarts of sauce
The Ingredients
~25 lbs. San Marzano tomatoes (used in classic tomato sauce in Italy!)
1 large Spanish onion, coarsely chopped
2 large garlic cloves, cut in thin slices
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
Kosher salt, to taste
For pasta:
1 lb. high quality bronze extruded spaghetti
Fresh basil, to garnish
Parmigiano-Reggiano, to garnish (or Parmesan!)
The Steps
For Authentic San Marzano Sauce: In a large pot with boiling water, plunge tomatoes in batches for 3 minutes a batch. Immediately after batch is boiled, plunge the boiling tomatoes into an ice water bath.
Use a knife to remove stem end of tomatoes. Pull off the skin (which will now come off easily). Cut tomatoes in half lengthwise. Remove rib (white part) and seeds.
Once all tomatoes are boiled and cooled, place olive oil, coarsely chopped Spanish onion, and garlic into a large pot. Sauté on low heat until onion is soft and translucent. Add tomatoes.
Simmer, uncovered on low/medium heat, for 5-8 hours (yes, this is large range, depending on the ripeness of your tomatoes!) until tomatoes disintegrate and juice reduces to a thicker sauce. Add kosher salt to taste.
To freeze: let sauce cool completely. Pour sauce into Tupperware containers and freeze for up to a year!
For pasta: Boil pasta as directed on box, until al dente. Don’t forget to salt the pasta water!
Add sauce to pasta (either on top or mixing throughout). Top with Parmigiano-Reggiano (or parmesan) and fresh basil.
Serve with a generous glass of Sangiovese, Barbera, or Valpolicella. Close your eyes, and suddenly, you’re in Italy!
The Steps with Pictures
For Authentic San Marzano Sauce: In a large pot with boiling water, plunge tomatoes in batches for 3 minutes a batch. Immediately after batch is boiled, plunge the boiling tomatoes into an ice water bath.
Use a knife to remove stem end of tomatoes. Pull off the skin (which will now come off easily). Cut tomatoes in half lengthwise. Remove rib (white part) and seeds.
Once all tomatoes are boiled and cooled, place olive oil, garlic, coarsely chopped Spanish onion into a large pot. Sauté on low heat until onion is soft and translucent. Add tomatoes.
Simmer, uncovered on low/medium heat, for 5-8 hours (yes, this is large range, depending on the ripeness of your tomatoes!) until tomatoes disintegrate and juice reduces to a thicker sauce. Add kosher salt to taste.
For pasta: Boil pasta as directed on box, until al dente. Don’t forget to salt the pasta water!
Add sauce to pasta (either on top or mixing throughout). Top with Parmigiano-Reggiano (or parmesan) and fresh basil.
Serve with a generous glass of Sangiovese, Barbera, or Valpolicella. Close your eyes, and suddenly, you’re in Italy!
To freeze: let sauce cool completely. Pour sauce into Tupperware containers and freeze for up to a year!
