Been makin’ my own from scratch lately. It’s pretty easy, just takes a while. Makes the house smell wonderful.
Ingredients:
- 1 large yellow onion
- big glug olive oil
- 4 or 5 cloves of garlic
- 3 cans of whole cooked tomatoes and their liquid (certainly use ripe fresh tomatoes when in season)
- 1 or 2 cans worth of water
- salt and fresh-ground black pepper
- 1 or 2 tablespoons fresh oregano if you have it, dried if you don’t
Mix and match optional ingredients:
- fresh basil (add towards end)
- little sprinkle of fennel
- dash of cinnamon
- couple of bay leaves
- smoked paprika
- cayenne or red pepper flakes
- fresh bell pepper
- chicken or veg bullion
To cook:
- Finely dice the onion and sauté in olive oil until clear over medium heat.
- Add garlic and spices, cook for one or two minutes only.
- Chop or smush tomatoes and add them and their liquid, and the water.
- Turn up and bring to a boil, then turn down and simmer for at least 1 1/2 hours. Stir occasionally and add water if needed.
I like a smooth sauce, so I purée it with a submersible blender (remove bay leaves, if any, beforehand), but if you like a textured sauce, just leave as is.
[...] – 1 tub ricotta cheese (about 1 pound) – 1 pound mozzarella – handful grated Parmesan – 3 cups of tomato sauce (or 1 25 oz jar) – salt and fresh ground black [...]
[...] the pizza, use 8-10 tablespoons tomato sauce, a couple handfuls of mozzarella (we didn’t have any, so I used some ricotta and Parmesan [...]