How to Make Homemade Sauce

With time and love as the secret ingredients to this homemade tomato sauce, you can add an extra touch of home-style cooking to your next pasta meal. Follow these instructions, and you will impress your family and friends with an amazing homemade sauce made easily using only a few inexpensive items. Be creative and add your own personal touch to serve an unforgettable dinner to those you love.

Things You'll Need

• Large sauce pan
• Wooden spoon
• 4 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 large onion
• 2 cups chicken stock
• 1 (28 ounce) can crushed tomatoes
• 1 (6 ounce) can tomato paste
• 3 fresh basil leaves
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon ground black pepper

Instructions

Homemade Tomato Sauce

1. Finely mince a large onion and two cloves of garlic while allowing your empty saucepan to reach medium-high heat on the stove.

2. Pour four tablespoons of pure olive oil into the hot sauce pan and wait a few seconds for the oil to heat up.

3. Toss the finely minced onion into the pan along with half a teaspoon of salt; stir occasionally until it has reached a golden brown color. This small amount of salt will make your onions release their liquids faster, shortening this step in the process.

4. Pour two cups of chicken stock onto the brown onions and stir to release the build up of brown bits on the bottom of the pot. Water could be substituted here, but quality stock will help build the first layer of slow-simmered flavor.

5. Add in one large can of crushed tomatoes, one can of tomato paste, three hand-crushed fresh basil leaves, the minced garlic cloves and one teaspoon of freshly ground black pepper.

6. Simmer your sauce for at least two hours, stirring every 20 minutes to release any tomatoes stuck on the bottom of your pot.

7. Taste your sauce and add the remaining half-teaspoon of salt if you feel it is still needed.

Tips & Warnings

• Add heat to your sauce by tossing in some crushed red chili flakes right before adding the chicken stock. Sauces simmered for more than three hours may require additional liquid to deter over-thickening. Granulated garlic, dried basil and onion powder may be substituted for the fresh versions, but the result is a much more institutionally prepared sauce taste. For best possible flavor, finish the tomato sauce together with your pasta in a hot saute pan for a few seconds. For a roasted sweetness that complements more acidic tomatoes, simmer your sauce with a prune, then remove the prune before serving.

• Monitor the sauce pot regularly and lower the heat if there is excessive splattering when you lift the lid to stir. Do not leave sauce out to reach room temperature. Place any unused sauce in the refrigerator; seal it in an airtight container to prevent bacterial growth.

References

• Homemade Tomato Sauce II
• Homemade Tomato Sauce: Long & Lucious