Fresh tomato sauce

Name: Fresh tomato sauce
Prep time: 30 min
Cook time: 65 min
Total time: 95 min
Yield: 4
Ingredients: San Marzano tomatoes 4 lbs; Onions 0.75 oz; Carrots 0.75 oz; Extra virgin olive oil to taste; Fine salt to taste; Basil to taste

it es br de fr

Gluten Free
Lactose Free
Vegetarian

Difficulty: Easy
Prep time: 30 min
Cook time: 1 h 5 min
Serving: 4 persone
Cost: Very low

PRESENTATION

There's nothing like the vibrant flavors of homemade Fresh Tomato Basil Sauce to elevate your meals! This classic Italian recipe captures the essence of ripe, sun-kissed tomatoes and fragrant basil leaves, creating a sauce that's as versatile as it is delicious. Perfect for pasta, pizza, or as a base for your favorite dishes, this recipe ensures you're savoring the very best of seasonal ingredients.

Did you know that this simple yet elegant sauce has roots in Italy's countryside, where families would simmer fresh tomatoes picked at their peak? This tradition continues today, offering a taste that's comforting, wholesome, and authentically Italian.

Get ready to impress your family and friends with this easy recipe!

INGREDIENTS
Ingredients for about 3 cups of fresh tomato sauce: San Marzano tomatoes 4 lbs (2 kg); Onions 0.75 oz (20 g); Carrots 0.75 oz (20 g); Extra virgin olive oil to taste; Fine salt to taste; Basil to taste

Preparation

How to prepare Fresh tomato sauce

To prepare tomato sauce, start by checking the tomatoes one by one, to made sure there aren't any spoiled ones, with bruises or spots. Wash them thoroughly 1 and remove the stalks. Cut each tomato in half lengthwise 2 and squeeze to remove the middle part with the seeds 3.

Continue in this way and collect all the tomatoes in one bowl and the juice in another 4. Below you will find lots of ideas on how to reuse it! Now place the tomatoes in a large saucepan 5 and lightly sweat them on a low flame for around 30 minutes, stirring occasionally 6.

When the tomatoes have nicely wilted 7, add salt. Stir and wait a little longer 8. Now blend a few tomatoes at a time in a tomato press, on a fine to medium setting 9.

Place the puree in a bowl 10. In the meantime, finely chop the carrot 11 and the onion 12.

Add a drizzle of oil and then the finely chopped vegetables to the saucepan you cooked the tomatoes in 13. Cook for 5-6 minutes, stirring occasionally. Now add the tomato puree 14 and cook for another 30 minutes on a low flame, stirring occasionally 15.

Make sure the sauce is the right density 16 and place it in a container 17; add a basil leaf 18 and use it as you like!

How to pasteurize

If you prefer to use jars for storing in the pantry, proceed as follows:

-use sterilized jars, or sterilize them by boiling them as explained by the Ministry of Health in the link at the bottom of the recipe.

-Fill the jars with the hot tomato puree, to 2-3 cm from the top. If you prefer you can add some thoroughly washed basil leaves.

-Close the jars tightly. -Place them in a saucepan with hot water and leave to boil.
- If you use half pint jars, leave for 30 minutes.
- If you use pint jars, leave for 35 minutes after bringing to the boil.
- If you use quart jars, leave for 40 minutes after bringing to the boil.

-Drain the jars, be sure not to scald yourself, and leave to cool. Make sure they have been vacuum-sealed before placing them in the pantry. There is another method for bottling puree: the cold method. You can fill sterilized jars with cold puree. -Place them in a saucepan with water and bring to the boil. - Refer to the same times as above once the water is boiling.

Storage

Fresh tomato sauce can be stored in the refrigerator for 2-3 days. Alternatively it can also be frozen.

If you opt for the pasteurization method, you can store the jars in the pantry for up to 3 months. We prefer not to indicate a longer conservation time, as home pasteurization is never a 100% safe method

Tips

Use the left over tomato water to dampen freselle or bruschette.

To prepare fresh tomato sauce, buy tomatoes that are free from bruises, firm, but red and nicely ripened; the best time of the year for buying them is July and August.

You can choose from lots of tomato varieties: vine, bunch, round or date, fiaschetto or prunill.

For a denser puree, leave to thicken on the stove to the desired consistency, before use or pasteurization.

IMPORTANT

The home preparation of preserves and jams can present health risks. In a domestic environment, it is not possible to create the necessary conditions and measures to guarantee the safety and suitability of food, which, on the contrary, industrial procedures are able to ensure in order to prevent dangerous contamination. It is therefore important to scrupulously follow food safety instructions to reduce risks, but one must always bear in mind that one can never achieve the same food safety as professionally produced preserves and jams. For the correct preparation of home-made preserves, we refer to the Italian Ministry of Health guidelines

For the translation of some texts, artificial intelligence tools may have been used.