If you're guilty of using canned or bottled tomato sauce for your pasta, for the love of god and everything sacred, please stop NOW. It's just wrong on so many levels that I don't know where to start ranting.
First of all, it tastes like crap.
Second, it's way too consistent in texture. Part of what makes a good pasta dish is the rough bits of tomato and herbs in the sauce that gives it some bite.
Third, it's just WRONG. I can't say it enough and I'll say it again.
Here's what you need:
- 1 can whole roma tomatoes
- 3 cloves of garlic, sliced or minced (sliced garlic yields a gentler flavour, while minced gives the sauce a stronger garlic kick)
- 2 tablespoons of concentrated tomato paste
- 6-8 basil leaves, thinly sliced
- 1/2 teaspoon of oregano
- Sea salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
Heat olive oil in a saucepan on medium heat. Fry garlic till soft, taking care not to let it burn and get too brown (over-browned or burnt garlic has a nasty bitter taste).
Squash the tomatoes roughly in your hands into the pot, pouring all the juices from the tin. Using a spoon, break up large chunks of tomato into smaller bits. Add the tomato paste, basil leaves and oregano and stir well. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
Gently simmer on low heat till slightly thickened for about 15-20 minutes.
Here's another thing you can make with this basic recipe and technique. To make an Italian inspired ketchup, continue simmering until reduced to a thick paste. The volume should be reduced to about half. When that happens, chuck it into a food processor and puree to a fine paste. There you go, the best ketchup you've ever tasted.
Make the sauce base in advance and store in the fridge if you're time-strapped. Otherwise, proceed to whip up your favourite tomato-based pasta.
See, easy peasy and utterly divine. Good as a base, or even on it's own.
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