Homemade Tomato Basil Sauce
Our oldest daughter is a HUGE pasta fan……Wait, I mean HUGE fan OF pasta….she’s actually quite skinny, even though she eats a good bit of pasta.
Her “go-to” menu item at any Italian restaurant is…..you guessed it…..spaghetti….and meatballs. She could probably tell you who has the best spaghetti sauce within a fifty mile radius of our home.
We eat spaghetti about once a week at home. It used to be our Wednesday night meal. Spaghetti is quick and easy, doesn’t require too much clean up (especially since I usually use a jar sauce) and everyone loves it. So, you see my attraction to spaghetti.
A couple of months ago, my Spaghetti-Loving-Daughter decided she would like to try making her own sauce. I realized this would not be the quick and easy meal we usually enjoyed and probably more expensive. Fresh tomatoes aren’t real cheap here and often not very flavorful, but it seemed like a great experience for her and we all love cooking from scratch.
First, we found a recipe that looked good. Then, I set off to find tomatoes.
One of our local stores, famous for their product, just happened to have Roma tomatoes on sale. Perfect! The original recipe called for 8 lbs but I cut it in half and it was plenty for our family of five.
Here’s the Recipe:
- 4 lbs tomatoes
- 1/8 cup chopped basil
- 1/2 large onion – minced
- 2 cloves garlic
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- salt and pepper to taste
Start by quartering tomatoes, removing seeds and dicing into small chunks and chopping basil
(Just in case you’re wondering….Yes, that is green nail polish…NO, those are not my fingers. My daughter cooked, I took pictures. She’s young enough to wear green nails….I am not)
Combine tomatoes and basil in a medium saucepan over medium-low heat
Cook until tomatoes are soft
While tomatoes are cooking, chop onions and garlic
In a medium skillet saute onions and garlic in olive oil until onions are translucent
Add onion mixture, along with desired amounts of salt and pepper to tomatoes
Reduce heat to low, cover and simmer about 2 hours or until thickened
Serve over your favorite pasta
This is a pretty light sauce so I don’t recommend overpowering it by adding meat. Instead, we made Chicken Parmesan and served the noodles with Tomato Basil Sauce as a side.
It was the perfect combination!
It wasn’t quick but it was easy and the extra time was worth the fresh taste!
- 4 lbs tomatoes
- 1/8 cup chopped basil
- 1/2 large onion – minced
- 2 cloves garlic
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- salt and pepper to taste
- Start by quartering tomatoes, removing seeds and dicing into small chunks
- Chop basil
- Combine tomatoes and basil in a medium saucepan over medium-low heat
- Cook until tomatoes are soft
- While tomatoes are cooking, chop onions and garlic
- In a medium skillet saute onions and garlic in olive oil until onions are translucent
- Add onion mixture, salt and pepper to tomatoes
- Reduce heat to low, cover and simmer about 2 hours or until thickened
- Serve over your favorite pasta
- This is a pretty light sauce so I didn’t want to overpower it by adding meat. Instead, we made Chicken Parmesan and served the noodles with Tomato Basil Sauce as a side.