I seem to make this tomato sauce every other week. I started doing this just because I thought the jarred version was ridiculously expensive~that is a good variety the didn’t have things that are simply not supposed to be in a tomato sauce. Has anyone else noticed how grocery prices have gone up again!? So one batch of this homemade goodness creates about 3 quarts~ enough for 3 different dinners for our family. However, this sauce can be as unique as the person creating it, I am merely providing a guideline here.
2 6oz cans tomato paste
1 can of diced tomatoes
1 finely chopped onion
3-4 cloves garlic, minced
basil (fresh, frozen or dried)
2 tbs sugar
So here is my wonderful ‘secret’ to it tasting so divine, I put all the ingredients in my croc pot. Yep, that’s it! Something about simmering for hours does the trick. AND for an average of $2.17 it hard to beat! Low for 6 hours, high for 3 hours.
It is possible to kick up the flavor dimensions by adding more of an ingredient or a different one altogether. Some of my favorites to add: a little lot more garlic, or more basil, making a ‘veggie’ sauce by adding shredded zucchini, carrots and spinach. And my current kick is to add a few tablespoons of balsamic vinegar after it is finished simmering- oh so good.
I would always love to hear of more suggestions!
After it is done I package the sauce up in quart freezer bags and freeze. Or if i am using it later in the week I place the sauce in a sealed container in my refrigerator. This type of sauce works so well as a base for sooooo many dishes not just over pasta.
