[ViolaMum]

Honestly, tomato sauce doesn't have to be a long drawn-out process! (Those long-simmered sauces are a Southern Italian staple. In other regions of Italy they make completely different pasta sauces.) You can make fresh sauces in 10-15 minutes. The key is really just to have good ingredients. A decent olive oil makes a huge difference.


If you have cherry/grape/small tomatoes:

In a large saute pan saute a small diced onion and a clove or two of minced garlic in olive oil over med high heat.

Add a pint of cherry tomatoes, a few leaves of ripped basil, and a sprinkle of salt.

Cook until the tomatoes start to pop. Serve!

I do the same thing with fresh chopped tomatoes, but you have to keep your eye on it. You don't want to overcook the tomatoes. (And don't skimp on the EVOO. )

If you don't like chunky sauce you're better off using canned (or Box like Pomi) tomatoes if you don't want to simmer for a long time. One of the reasons those sauces are so time-consuming is because of the tomato skins. DH's Nonna used to grind her fresh tomatoes in her food grinder (old-fashioned hand crank thing she brought with her from Italy!) three times before she bottled them to use through the winter. You could peel the tomatoes - cut an X in the bottom, dunk in boiling water for a minute and peel off with a knife - but that takes forever as well. (BTDT) A food mill works nicely if you have one.

Two large cans of crushed tomatoes to 1 medium can of diced tomatoes is my standard batch. Start with one med onion, a carrot, a rib of celery and 2-3 cloves of garlic all diced fine, sauteed in olive oil, then add the tomatoes. Season to taste with salt, pepper, oregano, basil, and thyme. (Or you could use Italian seasoning plus some extra basil. Be careful of the blends with marjoram; they can taste soapy if you use too much.) Let it simmer on the back of the stove for about 20-30 minutes. You can let it go longer if you want.

Marinara sauces (all veggies) are the fast sauces to make. It's the sauces with meat - Bolognese, or Sunday Gravy - that take hours to simmer.