Ingredients
Sauce
- 1 28-ounce can whole peeled tomatoes in juice, no salt added 794 g; use the juice too
- 2 tablespoons olive oil 27 g
- 1/2 small onion, finely chopped 75 g prepared weight
- 2 cloves garlic, minced 6 g
- 1/2 teaspoon fine salt 3 g; use less if the tomatoes are salted
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper 0.5 g
- 1/4 cup loosely packed fresh basil leaves, torn 6 g
Equipment
- 1 medium heavy saucepan
- 1 potato masher
- 1 wooden spoon
- 1 Food thermometer for reheating
Instructions
Make the sauce
- Empty the tomatoes and juice into a bowl. Mash into small pieces, or pulse briefly in a blender for a smoother texture.
- Warm the olive oil in a heavy saucepan over medium-low heat. Add the onion and cook, stirring, until softened, about 8–10 minutes. Add the garlic and stir for about 30 seconds without browning it.
- Add the tomatoes and juice, salt and pepper. Bring to a gentle simmer. Cook uncovered for about 25–30 minutes, stirring across the base regularly, until thick enough to coat a spoon. Lower the heat if it spits vigorously. Add a splash of water if it thickens before the onion is tender.
- Stir in the basil. Taste and adjust seasoning if needed. Divide into four portions of sauce. If tossing with pasta, use a little reserved pasta water to loosen the sauce; pasta and toppings are not included in the nutrition estimate.
Nutrition
Serving: 1 portion of sauce (1/4 batch)Calories: 102kcalCarbohydrates: 9.3gProtein: 1.9gFat: 7.3gSaturated Fat: 1gPolyunsaturated Fat: 0.9gMonounsaturated Fat: 5gSodium: 312mgPotassium: 419mgFiber: 4.2gSugar: 5.9gCalcium: 76mgIron: 1.3mg
Video
Notes
Video credit: Chef Billy Parisi, a classically trained chef. His pasta pomodoro demonstration illustrates the tomato, onion, garlic and basil method. His batch size, oil ratio and smoother puree differ from this small-batch, lightly textured sauce; follow the written quantities here.
Nutrition is an ingredient-sum estimate for one-quarter of the sauce, using USDA SR Legacy tomatoes 170138 (794 g), onion 170000 (75 g), garlic 169230 (6 g), basil 172232 (6 g), olive oil 171413 (27 g), salt 173468 (3 g) and pepper 170931 (0.5 g). Pasta, cheese and other toppings are excluded. Cooking-sensitive vitamins and unavailable trans fat are omitted. Cost varies and is not estimated.
Refrigerate promptly in shallow containers within 2 hours, or 1 hour above 90°F (32°C). Keep at 40°F (4°C) or below and use within 3–4 days. Freeze for longer storage. Reheat to 165°F (74°C).
