Sunday, January 15, 2012

How to make tomato sauce?

I love Italian cuisine and their ingredients, especially the herbs, pasta, cheeses... well the list is endless.
Pizza is an all-time favourite in our family. Since pizza is also very convenient to refrigerate and heat in the micro when you feel hungry, I was preparing pizza over the weekend to bring to work next week.
Ever since starting this blog, I have started to show some interest in making certains basic dishes from scratch that I hadn't earlier. Tomato sauce was one such thing we used to buy from the stores when we made pizza. But I have since sometime back discovered how easy it is to make tomato sauce completely from scratch. It is not only easy, it's also healthier in that homemade tomato sauce does not contain any preservatives. You can use this tomato sauce for pizzas, pasta, and parmigiana. Ever since we discovered how easy it is to make tomato sauce at home, we have stopped buying ready-made sauces from the store and I'm sure you would too.
In addition to be below mentioned ingredients, some people also add sugar and others also add some chili powder to balance the taste. Since everyone's tastebuds are different, I would recommend you to taste and adjust spices. If you find the tomato sauce a little acidic, add some sugar to balance out the taste. If you want some heat, you could add some chili powder. I personally like herbs a lot, especially oregano, so I add a large quantity of it. You can certainly reduce the amount if you like.
Ingredients:
3-4 tomatoes
1/2 cup water
3 tsp tomato purée
3 garlic cloves
2 tsp olive oil
1 tbs dried oregano
1/2 tbs dried basil
Salt and pepper to taste

Optional ingredients:
Sugar (if needed and as required)
Chili powder (if needed and as required)
Method:
Prepare the tomato sauce ahead of making the pizza dough. The sauce should not be warm when you spread it on the pizza. To make the sauce, begin by slicing/cutting the tomatoes finely. Finely chop the garlic. If you want a really smooth tomato sauce, you could mash the tomatoes with a handmixer or mix them in a mixer, with the garlic, before cooking them. In a large pan, cook the tomatoes, water and oil. Mix well. Add the rest of the ingredients, mix and cook on medium to below medium heat, until the sauce reaches your desired level of thickness. That's it.

9 comments:

Mahi said...

process looks simple! hubby dear is a big fan of Italian cuisine..will try soon and let you know! :)

Rathai's recipe said...

Yes, do let me know how it went or if you have any doubts. :)

Sangeetha M said...

this sounds so easy and simple...i love this basil-oregano-garlic tomato sauce,thanks for the recipe will try this weekend n let u know :)

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Rathai's recipe said...

That's reat! I hope your boys will like it. :)

Umm Mymoonah said...

Home made foods are always the best, this looks really good. Thank you for linking with Any One Can Cook :)

Unknown said...

following you too dear!

Rathai's recipe said...

Umm Mymoonah: I agree and it's my pleasure dear. I hope to participate in the upcoming event as well.

Now Serving: Thank you dear. :)

Vardhini said...

Useful post and tomato sauce looks perfect for pizza :). Thx for linking to the event.

Amila said...

Home made food are always the best & healthy. Thanks for sharing this post...
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