MrsDangermouse
Guru
I think the reason most recipes use paste or tinned tomatoes is because fresh tomatoes can be too watery to make a good sauce.
But it IS possible to make a very nice tomato sauce from scratch using fresh tomatoes, plum tomatoes are better for making sauces because they have much more flesh and less water, but in reality you can make sauce with any type of tomato.
This is my basic tomato sauce that I make when we have a glut of cherry tomatoes from the garden:
- Cut the tomatoes in half or quarters depending on the size and put in a baking tray
- Drizzle with olive oil
- Optional: add your favourite herbs (woody ones are best, steer clear of soft herbs like parsley and basil at this point), a few bashed cloves of garlic (no need to peel) or chillies
- Roast in a medium-hot oven for a while until the tomatoes look shrivelled and a bit brown around the edges
- Meanwhile sweat some diced onion in a little oil or butter, maybe with some garlic too
- Transfer the roasted tomatoes to the saucepan with your onions and add some stock (vegetable or chicken works fine), use a bit of the stock or some water to rinse out the roasting pan to make sure you get all the nice flavours
- Simmer for a while and then blend and pass through a wide mesh sieve to remove the tomato skins, depending on the consistency at this stage you may want to simmer it again to reduce
- Now add your seasoning - pepper almost certainly, maybe a little sugar (I don't usually use sugar unless I have to, but it does really enhance tomatoes), and salt if you're using it.
Can be used as a basic tomato sauce on its own, or used instead of tinned tomatoes in a recipe. If you want to add soft herbs such as basil or parsley only add them to the finished dish just before you serve it.
Freezes really well
But it IS possible to make a very nice tomato sauce from scratch using fresh tomatoes, plum tomatoes are better for making sauces because they have much more flesh and less water, but in reality you can make sauce with any type of tomato.
This is my basic tomato sauce that I make when we have a glut of cherry tomatoes from the garden:
- Cut the tomatoes in half or quarters depending on the size and put in a baking tray
- Drizzle with olive oil
- Optional: add your favourite herbs (woody ones are best, steer clear of soft herbs like parsley and basil at this point), a few bashed cloves of garlic (no need to peel) or chillies
- Roast in a medium-hot oven for a while until the tomatoes look shrivelled and a bit brown around the edges
- Meanwhile sweat some diced onion in a little oil or butter, maybe with some garlic too
- Transfer the roasted tomatoes to the saucepan with your onions and add some stock (vegetable or chicken works fine), use a bit of the stock or some water to rinse out the roasting pan to make sure you get all the nice flavours
- Simmer for a while and then blend and pass through a wide mesh sieve to remove the tomato skins, depending on the consistency at this stage you may want to simmer it again to reduce
- Now add your seasoning - pepper almost certainly, maybe a little sugar (I don't usually use sugar unless I have to, but it does really enhance tomatoes), and salt if you're using it.
Can be used as a basic tomato sauce on its own, or used instead of tinned tomatoes in a recipe. If you want to add soft herbs such as basil or parsley only add them to the finished dish just before you serve it.
Freezes really well