Mother's Tomato Sauce
Submitted by chapelcomb8213
Old-school Italian tomato sauce simmered with onion, carrot, celery, garlic, and basil, then strained smooth through a food mill. The Sunday-gravy base every cook should know.
YIELD
6 servingsPREP
30 minCOOK
30 minREADY
60 minThis is the kind of tomato sauce that tastes like it came from someone’s grandmother in a small village outside Naples, because that’s pretty much how it’s built. No paste, no sugar, no shortcuts. Just ripe tomatoes, a sweetened soffritto of onion, carrot, and celery, and good olive oil splashed in twice.
The split-oil technique is the quiet brilliance here. Half goes in at the start to fry the onions and build a savory backbone. The second half gets stirred in raw at the end, where it lifts the aroma of fresh tomato and basil right off the spoon.
Pushing the cooked sauce through a food mill is what gives it that velvety body. Skins and seeds get left behind, and what comes through is a sauce that coats pasta without ever feeling thick or chunky.
Pro Tips
- Use San Marzano tomatoes when you can find them. The lower acidity and meaty texture make a noticeable difference.
- Don’t rush the soffritto. Lightly browned onions add depth that no spice can fake.
- If you skip the food mill, run the cooked sauce through a fine-mesh sieve or pulse briefly in a blender.
- For a piquant marinara variation noted in the directions, add crushed red pepper and an extra clove of pressed garlic right before that final raw oil.
Variations
- Stir in a splash of red wine after the onions soften for a richer, darker sauce.
- Add a Parmesan rind during simmering and remove before milling for a savory, umami boost.
- Toss with spaghetti and torn fresh basil for a classic finish.
Ingredients
Directions
Place the onion and half of the oil in a saucepan and cook until the onion is lightly browned.
Add tomatoes, carrot, parsley, garlic, salt, basil and celery.
Cook, covered, over moderate heat, stirring very occasionally, for ½ hour or until the vegetables are very soft.
Strain through a food mill, taste for salt and adjust if necessary.
If sauce is too thin, place on heat again to thicken.
Remove from heat, add the remaining oil and stir.
NOTE: For a marinara or a more piquant sauce, just before adding the last oil, add ¼ teaspoon crushed hot red pepper and 1 clove garlic passed through a garlic press or chopped very fine.
Makes 3 cups.
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