Quick Culinary School Tomato Sauce
Before I was allowed to apply for admission to my culinary school, I had to pass a basic skills class. I’m sure it was designed to separate the serious from the lackadaisical; the ones truly interested in cooking vs. those who just wanted to be a TV celebrity chef.
One of the very first things we had to demonstrate we could make was a basic tomato sauce. And you know what? This “basic” sauce was better than any pre-made sauce I’d ever eaten out of a jar.
Today, I’m sharing with you the notes I took down as my chef instructor taught us to make this sauce. Serve over traditional pasta with black bean meatballs, or butternut squash noodles. Or, use as a sauce for a chicken pizza or a crostini pizza bar.
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- Sweat, don’t brown, the onions – Cook them over medium or medium-low if you need to. You’re looking for the onions to soften and become translucent. You want them to release their flavor without browning.
- Cook the garlic ever so briefly – Seriously folks, 30 seconds. That’s it. And if you throw the garlic in, forget about it, and burn the living daylights out of it? Just start over. Nobody wants to eat sauce made with bitter, burned garlic.
- Use roughly chopped, whole peeled tomatoes – Reading this post in the summer, when there are great, fresh, in-season tomatoes? Cool. It’s February as I write this, and even the best chefs know that certain canned items deliver a superior quality vs. an out-of-season product. Don’t be afraid to use a good quality can of tomatoes!
- Do NOT simmer this sauce all day – If you have a hearty meat sauce with lots of big flavors – sure, simmer that all afternoon. But this simple, light tomato sauce needs only 15 minutes to slightly reduce and concentrate its flavors.
- Add dried herbs at the beginning; add fresh herbs at the end – Dried herbs and spices (if using) will release their flavor as they cook, whereas you’ll kill the flavor of fresh herbs if you simmer them too long.
- Season with salt and pepper just before serving – If you add the salt up front, your sauce may be too salty once it reduces.
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Quick Culinary School Tomato Sauce
This beats the jar and is just as fast!
Ingredients
- 2 cans whole peeled tomatoes 28 ounces each
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
- ½ medium white onion finely chopped
- 2 garlic cloves minced
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh basil leaves
Instructions
- Remove tomatoes from their juice; reserve juice. Roughly chop tomatoes.
- In medium saucepot, heat butter over medium heat. Add onion; cook 3 to 4 minutes or until onion is just softened and translucent (do not brown), stirring frequently.
- Stir in garlic. Cook 30 seconds, stirring constantly.
- Stir in tomatoes and their juice. Heat to boiling over medium-high heat, then reduce to low. Simmer 15 minutes or until thickened to a sauce-like consistency.
- Stir in salt, pepper and basil.
Notes
- Use roughly chopped, whole peeled tomatoes – Reading this post in the summer, when there are great, fresh, in-season tomatoes? Cool. It’s February as I write this, and even the best chefs know that certain canned items deliver a superior quality vs. an out-of-season product. Don’t be afraid to use a good quality can of tomatoes!
Serving: 0.5cup, Calories: 37kcal, Carbohydrates: 4g, Protein: 1g, Fat: 2g, Saturated Fat: 1g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.1g, Monounsaturated Fat: 1g, Trans Fat: 0.1g, Cholesterol: 6mg, Sodium: 234mg, Potassium: 168mg, Fiber: 1g, Sugar: 2g, Vitamin A: 188IU, Vitamin C: 8mg, Calcium: 30mg, Iron: 1mg
This website provides estimated nutrition information as a courtesy only. You should calculate the nutritional information with the actual ingredients used in your recipe using your preferred nutrition calculator.
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I live near Red Gold and buy their products from all the local groceries. Their jar salsa is a family favorite.
Yes, their salsa is one of my favs, too. Thanks for stopping by, Tracy Ann!
Hi, Lori! We’ve been following each other on Insta for a while now, and I love your blog. I also went to Culinary school so I’m very excited to read your culinary posts and compare to what I learned.
I recently published my food blog officially, check it out when you have a chance! I look forward to your future posts as always.
So nice to connect with you, Ashley!
Another two questions……
1) How long, once made, will this last in a glass jar in the fridge? 2) Can this be frozen and if so, how is the best way so there wont be freezer burn? Thanks!
Hi again, Claudia. Once made, this sauce will keep up to 5 days in the refrigerator. It can be frozen, but be aware that the texture may change a little bit once it’s thawed and heated up again. I freeze my sauces in either mason jars, or plastic deli containers. The important thing is to pick a container that the sauce *just* fits into, without much “extra space” at the top for freezer burn. Yuck!
Thanks for the easy recipe and the info on Red Gold.
I am not a chef at all but a lot of the recipes I see and read have sugar added to the sauce to cut the acidity. What are your thoughts on that?
Hi Claudia. Thanks for stopping by! I sometimes do add a pinch of sugar when I’m working with fresh tomatoes that aren’t quite sweet enough. I find Red Gold canned tomatoes to be nice and sweet, so I didn’t use sugar here. I think it’s mainly a matter of personal taste, and if you prefer a sweeter or more acidic sauce.