The abundance of Summer produce from our vegetable garden and also from local farmers means that some Summer cooking activities can almost be pre-scheduled year and year about. Each year we do these same activities and create products that last past the season of the produce into the next year. Things like berry jam, passata, zucchini haloumi fritters (or anything!), dried tomatoes and tomato sauce. I have not previously shared my tomato sauce recipe as it has never been quite 100% kid approved. Nor has it ever measured up to my own memory of my dad’s sauce that he made each year when I was a child. This year I can confidently say that my sauce has now been approved by my children as well as by fussy Mr Fresh himself. I have a bottle ready to send to my dad to test and I am sure that it will get a tick of approval from him also.

I am not really a potato chip (baked potato) person. I do like them but try to avoid them. My kids adore them. This sauce had me reaching into my vegetable storage box, when no one else was home, to find potatoes so that I could test the sauce! When the kids got home from their outing I then made another batch for them, just to be sure. This sauce is that good. I hope that you give it a try.

My secret to the best sauce:

The secret? What has changed this year as opposed to other years?

It is in getting the percentage of red wine vinegar just right and using a very good quality red wine vinegar. I used one that I purchased from a local winery we visited a few months ago.

Here is my Best Tomato Sauce Recipe, I hope that you love it. I used spray free tomatoes that I source from a local farm gate. There are no preservatives, no additives or ingredients that I did not select to add to the recipe. The ingredients are combined in this simple recipe for a tasty tomato sauce that will have you baking chips in order to eat more of it!

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Best Tomato Sauce Recipe

Prep Time

15 mins

Cook Time

40 mins

Total Time

55 mins

 

Best Tomato Sauce Recipe.Homemade with spray free tomatoes and no preservatives, or additives.This simple recipe is kid approved. Make it from scratch yourself.

Course: Condiment

Servings: 1 litre

Author: Kyrstie Barcak - A Fresh Legacy

Ingredients

• 1/2 tablespoon cooking oil of choice I used olive oil
• 100 grams brown onion - chopped finely
• 15 grams fresh garlic - chopped finely
• 1 kilo roma tomatoes - diced
• 4-5 fresh parsley stalks including the leaves
• 2-3 fresh basil stalks including the leaves
• 1/2 teaspoon dried mixed herbs oregano, marjoram, rosemary, thyme, parsley
• 1 teaspoon sweet paprika
• 1/4 cup white sugar
• 50 ml red wine vinegar good quality
• 4-6 grinds black pepper
• 1 teaspoon salt

Instructions

1. To a large pot or wide based preserving pan, add the oil and then the onions and garlic, stir occasionally until they soften and become translucent.
2. Add the tomatoes to the pan and stir to mix
3. Bring to a simmer and gently simmer for 20 minutes
4. Use a stick blender to create a smooth mixture without any large pieces
5. Add the herbs and then the herbs, paprika, sugar, red wine vinegar, pepper and salt. Stir until the sugar dissolves
6. Continue to simmer for 20-30 minutes until the sauce darkens slightly in color and begins to thicken. Remove the stalks from the herbs
7. Remove the sauce from the heat and pot into steralized jars or bottles.
8. Once the jars are cool enough to handle you may wish to process them in a water bath for 20 min also if you choose.
9. Store in a cool, dark location such as a cupboard and once opened - store in the fridge and use within a few weeks.
10. Unopened bottles should be used within a few months.
11. As with any food that is stored for a period of time, ensure that you check for any signs of spoilage and if you are in doubt discard, do not consume.
12. You could also freeze this sauce into portion sizes if you wish to for a longer storage life.

Recipe Notes

A quicker way to prepare the ingredients for this recipe is to use a food processor to chop firstly the onion and garlic and then the tomatoes

If you would like to give this recipe a try please do so in the coming weeks as the (non green-house) tomato season in Australia will be winding down shortly.

When my batch of last years sauce ran out I admit to caving to the pressure of my children and buying tomato sauce from the store. I am thrilled that they love this recipe so much that they have said they prefer it to the highly processed store purchased variety.

This is another recipe that you can add to you expanding collection of making things from scratch, skipping the supermarket and highly processed food.

Have you tried making your own tomato sauce?