Homemade Pasta Sauce From Scratch Using Fresh Tomatoes
Recipe Rating
What I Did With Extra Ingredients Lying Around
After a trip to the local open air market in Catania, we ended up with some extra tomatoes. I am not a fan of fresh tomatoes, so I decided to try a pasta sauce using the fresh tomatoes instead of a canned tomato sauce base. The sauce is light, not heavy like the usual tomato sauce, so it is even good for summer dishes. This can be made spicy with red pepper flakes, or even cayenne pepper if you enjoy a little spice like I do. I don't like to give specific amounts of salt and pepper because everyone has a different taste for those. The recipe takes about an hour from beginning to finish, but you don't have to babysit the pot too much. It is also appropriate for vegetarians and vegans. I hope that you enjoy!
Cook Time
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 50 min
Ready in: 1 hour
Yields: serves 3 as a main dish or 4 as a side
Ingredients
- 5-6 (medium sized) fresh tomatoes, chopped
- 2-3 cloves fresh garlic, crushed
- 1 (medium sized) white or yellow onion, finely chopped
- 2 teaspoons dried oregano
- 4-5 tablespoons olive oil
- red pepper flakes, to taste
- black pepper and/or sea salt, to taste
Instructions
- Add olive oil to a pot over medium-high heat.
- Finely chop onion, and add to the pot. Allow onion to cook until softened (approx. 10 minutes), but adjust heat to prevent burning or scorching. You want the onion to be at a yellow or light brown color before adding the tomatoes.
- While the onion is cooking, wash and chop the tomatoes. Once the onion is cooked, stir in the tomatoes and cover the pot.
- Allow the tomatoes to cook for approximately 20 minutes over medium-high heat, and stir occasionally to prevent scorching.
- When the tomatoes start to appear cooked, peel and add the crushed garlic (if you do not have a garlic press, you can finely chop the garlic). Also add the oregano, red pepper flakes, salt, and pepper as desired. Stir everything together, and then cover the pot again. Reduce the heat to medium. Allow the sauce to cook for another 15-20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Taste the sauce and add spices as necessary.
- When the sauce is done, mix COOKED pasta into the pot. Allow to cook for approximately 5 minutes, stirring occasionally in order for the pasta to absorb some of the sauce.
- Plate and serve!
Tools To Help Make This Dish
This is a great garlic press. If you are still chopping garlic and getting your fingers stinky, consider purchasing this handy tool. It is easy to use, and best of all easy to clean (which is not true of all garlic presses). Amazon has it for about $20 with free shipping.
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