This is actually my first time successfully making a homemade tomato sauce.
Yes. It is true. Until now, I have never made a decent tomato sauce from scratch, without the help of canned tomatoes & paste. Is that pathetic? HOW can I call myself a home cook OR Italian?! Welp, just a little side note: I have this strange thing with canned tomatoes. The thought of acidic tomatoes sitting in a tin can for who knows how long, with added salt & preservatives, just skeeves me- I still feel like that can't be good for you. Right?! Plus, it takes away from the whole “homemade” feel! You may notice that anytime one of my recipes calls for tomatoes, I always try to use fresh ingredients. I’ve learned you can basically fudge your way through any recipe that calls for canned tomatoes, by substituting with a dry pint of cherry tomatoes chopped, some water/broth, and a litttttle bit of paste. And voila! There you have it- totally from scratch and no canned goods needed. Just the way I like it!
SO after many failed attempts of fresh tomato basil sauce in the past (with the help of fresh veggies… errr well fruit in this case, & herbs from my dad’s garden), I was never able to get the right sauce or consistency. Every time the weather gets warm, I get totally hyped with the gardens blooming, and every street vendor has the most vibrant fruits & veggies. I get inspired to find the Italian in me, and try a simple sauce for myself. Sadly, they often came out super orange in color (uhh still don’t know what went wrong there), and VERY watery. I don’t know what I was doing wrong, but I just couldn’t get it right! BUT thankfully I found this original recipe from my fav place Pinch Of Yum - and boy am I happy I decided to give it a shot! Made some slight tweaks, and not ONLY did it come out so fantabulous, but it was super easy. Such a great base sauce that you can literally add any veggies, proteins.. whatever you want! This will now be my favorite go-to sauce for a proper Sunday Night pasta dinner, and I am able to share it with all of YOU! If you have had many failed attempts in the past like me (sad face), get EXCITED! Because this is totally error proof and sure to knock your socks off.
PS. You’ll notice mine has some added shrimp like the original recipe, but this can definitely be made without - & will be 100% vegetarian approved. :)
Enjoy, ya tomato lovers! xx S.
|Vegetarian • Pescatarian|
I N G R E D I E N T S:
- 2 dry pints of cherry tomatoes, halved
- 1/2 yellow onion, diced small
- 4-5 cloves of garlic, minced
- 1 1/2 cups of veggie broth (more or less to desired consistency!)
- 4 Tbs of unsalted butter
- Large bunch of fresh basil, chopped
- 8 oz. of Capellini Pasta (or whatever you prefer)
- 1/2 pound of Shrimp (optional)
- 1/2 tsp of cane sugar
- Salt & Pepper to taste
- Olive oil, to saute!
- Fresh Parmesan to serve (MMM)
TO PREPARE: Dice your tomatoes in half, and chop the onion and garlic. Set aside separately. If you're adding to shrimp to your sauce, clean & devein, and get ready to cook!
BEGIN: In a large pan over medium heat, add a little splash of olive oil. Once hot, toss in the shrimp and cook until they are pink on both sides. Sprinkle some salt, remove from pan & set aside. Now in that same pan, add another tablespoon or so of olive oil, and toss in the garlic and onions. Cook for about 5 minutes until they begin to turn translucent and slightly golden (yummm). Add in your tomatoes and broth & bring to a boil. Once boiling, reduce heat to medium low, and occasionally stir, while firmly pushing down on the tomatoes to sort of "crush" them with your spatula or wooden spoon.
COOKIN: After about 25 minutes, your tomatoes should be super soft, and your sauce will actually begin to look like sauce. Now, add the basil, sugar, and butter. Stir until all melted and combined well. Let cook for another 10 minutes until it begins to thicken (if you feel it's still not thick enough, let it cook longer so the liquid reduced almost completely). Taste and adjust with salt & pepper. Toss in your shrimp, mix well, and pour your super chunky super delicious sauce over pasta.... & SERVE!