just pasta savoury delights

once again – tomato sauce

What happened some time ago?

My food blog came into life in 2015 – long ago. About 2 years ago or so I realized that there were (too!) many posts w/ lots of photos requiring more & more storage making e. g. updates of the data base somewhat tricky. So I decided to do an internal review resulting in deleting quite a lot of posts & trimming down my blog.

(To be honest: when starting in 2015 it was very experimental … I tried one option for presentation in a post or another … My food photography was in its infancy … My style – did I have a unique style? Trial & error! So my posts of the early years were sometimes of rather poor quality.)

Otherwise there were some dishes which I really like – so every now & then I reprocess an old post – to share the recipe, but also to create a more concise version.

(Maybe I should also mention that WP changed quite a lot here & there over the years, e. g. concerning the new editor, which had in tow adaptions in widgets … widgets themselves evolving new features … All of this had some consequences for the posts i. e. the layout of the posts. So I had to review older posts.)

Today it’s this delicious tomato sauce, quick & easy to create, based on your pantry stock – at least my pantry stock covers all of the ingredients.

By the way: at the moment I’m very fond of quick & easy recipes because I’m busy. (In addition: it’s also due to the heat!) My better half & I decided to move & it turns out, that there are many preparations aka decluttering lurking in shadow zones like cellar, in the attic, in countless boxes or drawers … wherever.

I don’t want to disregard my blogs, but I’ve to manage my daily challenges, especially our new challenges (more about this later). So reprocessing recipes & writing about fast lunches & dinners is preset.

However, now coming back to the tomato sauce …

All ingredients were in my pantry. (I admit that there are some adaptions are possible …)

So it’s now:

  • a can filled w/ Italian peeled tomatoes in their very own juice
  • canned tomato purée
  • olive oil, balsamic vinegar & honey (resp. syrup or simply sugar)
  • fresh garlic, dried chili & onions.

I mixed some dried herbs like:

  • oregano
  • thyme
  • sage
  • ground rosemary

and …

  • a bay leaf.

Instead of creating this mis you may also use a store-bought mix of Italian Herbs or Herbs of Provence.

The onions are chopped, the cloves of garlic are pressed & the red chili is crumbled – discard the small pits.

Start frying the the onion mess in the olive oil mess together w/ the herb mess. Fry gently for some minutes.

Add the peeled tomatoes, the tomato juice & the tomato purée & mix well. Crush down the tomatoes. Bring it to a boil & let it simmer for about 20 min. Add salt & pepper to taste.

Voilà: a thick tomato sauce w/ Italian flavors, bits of tomatoes …

… ready for some spaghetti topped w/ freshly grated parmesan or pecorino!

Enjoy!

once again – tomato sauce
Prep Time10 minutes
Cook Time25 minutes
ingredients:
  • 1 can peeled Italian tomatoes (about 400 ml)
  • 1 can tomato purée (70 gr)
  • 1 big spring onion
  • 1 small red onion
  • 2 cloves of garlic
  • 1 dried red chili
  • 3 tbsp olive oil
  • ½ tbsp balsamic vinegar
  • ½ tbsp honey (or syrup or sugar)
  • ½ tsp dried oregano
  • ½ tsp dried thyme
  • 1 bay leaf
  • ¼ tsp dried sage
  • ¼ tsp ground rosemary
  • salt & pepper (to taste)
how to:
  • Mix olive oil, balsamic vinegar & honey/syrup/sugar in a bowl. Chop the onions, press the garlic, crumble the chili (discard the pits!), add the oil mess & start frying.
  • Add herbs & the bay leave & fry everything for about 4-5 min – softly!
  • Add the peeled tomatoes (incl. the tomato juice!) & break the tomatoes apart.
  • Add the tomato purée.
  • Let the tomato mess simmer for about 20 min.
  • Remove the bay leave.
  • Add salt & pepper to taste.
  • Pour in a serving bowl & serve.
Notes
Servings: It may be for 2 up to 4 people depending on the amount of pasta per person.
Tomatoes: You may use canned peeled tomatoes or canned crushed tomatoes.
If you prefer canned tomato purée only adjust the amounts; it’ll become a very smooth tomato sauce!
Onions: I happened to find a spring onion & a red onion in my pantry – you may use any onion(s) you’ll find in your pantry, however, take care of the amount!
Garlic & chili: You may use more garlic & more chili … less garlic & less chili … any combination which is fine for you. My recommendation results in a slightly garlicky tomato sauce w/ a little hotness.
Herbs: Instead of mixing you very own mix of dried herbs you may also rely on store-bought solution like Italian Herbs or Herbs of Provence.
You may store the tomato sauce in the fridge for at least 3 days.