Pasta is one of my favorite dishes. It doesn’t matter if I’m at home or on vacation– if I go to a restaurant, I at least check to see what kind of pasta they offer. With this being said, when I’m cooking at home, I usually grab a bottle of Classico Sauce for a quick and easy way to get dinner on the table.
However, I rarely make the sauce at home. It seems that I always wanted to make sauces with more substance rather than solely tomatoes. To be honest, I have the Spring weather to blame (more like thank) for the urge to make this fresh tomato sauce recipe. Yielding about 2 1/2 cups, this is easy to make and your home will quickly be filled with the delicious scent of fresh tomato sauce.
Tip: Reuse glass store-bought pasta sauce jars! I love Classico Sauce jars and they are perfect for this sauce. If you’ve switched to making fresh tomato sauce and have run out of other pasta sauce jars to reuse, Amazon sells 6 packs of 32 oz (1 qt) jars that would also work well.
Simple Fresh Tomato Sauce
Ingredients
2 Tbsps Olive Oil
5lbs Tomatoes
1 Tbsp tomato paste
2-3 Garlic cloves, halved
1 Sprig of Basil
1 Bay leaf
Instructions
Cut tomatoes in half horizontally. If desired, squeeze out the seeds and discard them. Press the cut side of the tomato against the large holes of a box grater and grate tomato flesh into a bowl. Discard skins. You should have about 4 cups.
Put tomato pulp in a low wide saucepan over high heat. Add salt, olive oil, tomato paste, garlic, basil, and bay leaf. Bring to a boil, then lower the heat to a brisk simmer.
Reduce the sauce by almost half, stirring occasionally, to produce about 2½ cups.
Store in a covered container in the fridge for up to 5 days prior to use. Or let it cool to room temperature and freeze it for up to 3 months.
