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| | This is a nice and simple tomato sauce which is perfect to make whether for pizza, dipping sauce, pasta etc… Traditional flavors are used such as garlic, oregano and basil. We used canned diced tomatoes, but if you have access to a lot of fresh tomatoes, then you can certainly use that – just make sure to blanche the tomatoes as well as cut and seed them first. A little red (or white) wine is nice to add, or if you don’t have that on hand, then some dry (or sweet) vermouth would work, as well as some lemon juice.
If you don’t have a lot of time, then simply let the sauce cook for about 10 minutes and it will be nice and flavorful. If however, you have more time on hand, it doesn’t hurt to cook the sauce longer up to an hour. Then just make sure to add some extra liquid, since some will evaporate during the cooking process.
Small batch (enough for 2 pizzas, or with pasta for 3-4 servings)
- Oil or butter
- ½ onion, finely diced
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- ½ teaspoon dried oregano
- ½ teaspoon dried basil
- 1 tablespoon tomato paste
- ¼ cup red wine
- 1 can diced tomatoes
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- salt and pepper
Method
Sauté the onion in either oil or butter for a few minutes until translucent. Add the garlic, the dried oregano, basil and the tomato paste. Cook for a few minutes, add the wine (can be excluded) and then add the diced tomatoes. Taste with sugar, salt and pepper. If the sauce is too thick for your taste, then add a little bit of water. Cook for at least 10 minutes or more, or until all the flavors have incorporated.
If you are serving this on pizza and want a smooth sauce, then you can blend it.
Tip! Possible flavor additions that will boost the flavor of your sauce includes:
- Chopped sun dried tomatoes which are nice to add at the beginning of the cooking process
- Grated carrots which make the sauce slightly more robust and a little sweeter
- Worcester sauce will give a nice background hint
- Balsamic vinegar - add at the last few minutes of the cooking process.
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