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you
say tomato...
how
to make a basic tomato sauce
by
Yee-Fan Sun |
1
2 3
continued from page 2
basic
tomato sauce
Made with only the simplest of ingredients, this recipe is the
fundamental building block for all of my tomato-based pasta sauces.
Despite its minimalism, it makes for very good comfort food as is --
just make sure to add plenty of salt and pepper to taste. It can be
tossed with just about any pasta shape you like.
1 28-oz. can whole tomatoes
(or about 2 lbs good fresh tomatoes, peeled, cored and de-seeded)
3 fat cloves garlic
1 small onion
couple of tablespoons of olive oil
1/2 tsp. sugar
salt and pepper to taste
yields:
enough for a pound+ of pasta
1
Mince the garlic and the onion as finely as possible.
2
Heat up a couple tablespoons of olive oil in a medium-sized pot, and
sauté the garlic and onion over medium-high heat for a few minutes,
until soft and translucent.
3 Open
your can of tomatoes. If you're the anal-retentive sort, you can squish
out the seeds from the centers of the tomatoes and discard them. As the
seeds in canned tomatoes tend to be pretty minimal, I don't bother. Dump
the tomatoes and the juice into the pot, along with the sugar, plus
salt and pepper to taste. Smush the tomatoes in half using a wooden
spoon, and give it all a good stir.
4 Continue
cooking on medium-high, keeping your mixture at a nice simmer. Stir
occasionally, and break up the tomatoes with your spoon as they begin to
soften. It'll take about 15 minutes for the mixture to get thick and
saucy; at this point, you'll have a chunky sauce with a good
"fresh" tomato flavor. You can either use it as is, or
continue cooking for another 30 minutes to further concentrate the
flavors, lowering the heat to get a gentle simmer and stirring often. Either way, make sure to taste for salt and pepper and
adjust seasonings accordingly once you feel your sauce is done.
5 Toss
the sauce with your cooked pasta to coat thoroughly, and again, taste to
make sure you've added enough flavorings. Serve and enjoy!
scamper
along for tips on jazzing up your sauce
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