Basic Lean Tomato Sauce Recipes

Steps:

• Bring a pot of water to a boil. Have ready a large bowl of iced water. Plunge whole tomatoes in boiling water until skin starts to peel, 1 minute. Remove with slotted spoon and place in ice bath. Let rest until cool enough to handle, then remove peel and squeeze out seeds. Chop 8 tomatoes and puree in blender or food processor. Chop remaining two tomatoes and set aside.
• In a large pot or Dutch oven over medium heat, cook onion, bell pepper, carrot and garlic in oil and butter until onion starts to soften, 5 minutes. Pour in pureed tomatoes. Stir in chopped tomato, basil, Italian seasoning and wine. Place bay leaf and whole celery stalks in pot. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low, cover and simmer 2 hours. Stir in tomato paste and simmer an additional 2 hours. Discard bay leaf and celery and serve.

Steps:

• In a large casserole pot, heat oil over medium high heat. Add onion and garlic and saute until soft and translucent, about 2 minutes. Add celery and carrots and season with salt and pepper. Saute until all the vegetables are soft, about 5 minutes. Add tomatoes, basil, and bay leaves and simmer covered on low heat for 1 hour or until thick. Remove bay leaves and check for seasoning. If sauce still tastes acidic, add unsalted butter, 1 tablespoon at a time to round out the flavors.
• Add half the tomato sauce into the bowl of a food processor. Process until smooth. Continue with remaining tomato sauce.
• If not using all the sauce, allow it to cool completely and pour 1 to 2 cup portions into freezer plastic bags. This will freeze up to 6 months.

Steps:

• Put the onion in a nonstick skillet over medium heat and cook, stirring, a few minutes. Add the garlic and cook until the onion is tender.
• Add the tomatoes and cook over medium high heat until they start to thicken, about 15 minutes. Stir in the bouillon or meat juices, sugar, salt and pepper and red pepper flakes.
• Just before serving, reheat and stir in the olive oil.

Steps:

• Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan, add the onions and cook on a low heat until soft. Add the garlic and tomato purée. Cook for a few minutes then add the chopped tomatoes and oregano. Season generously and simmer for 20 mins, then allow to cool.
• Store in sterilised jars in the fridge for up to 1 week, or transfer to a container and freeze for up to 2 months.

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
• Heat a nonstick skillet, add onion and cook over low heat, stirring, about five minutes, until the onion starts to soften. Add garlic, stir, and cook over low heat 10 to 15 minutes longer, until onion and garlic start to brown. Remove from heat.
• While the onion and garlic are cooking, put the bread crumbs in a bowl, moisten with half a cup of water and allow to soak.
• Put the ground beef in a mixing bowl, the bowl of an electric mixer or a food processor. Add the egg white, cooked onion and garlic, thyme, sage, vinegar, tomato paste, salt and pepper. Squeeze out be bread crumbs and add them. Mix all the ingredients until they are very well blended by hand, with an electric beater or in a food processor.
• Pack the mixture into a loaf pan 8 by 4 by 2 inches. Put in the oven and bake an hour and 15 minutes.
• Remove from the oven and pour all the liquid in the pan into a bowl. Skim off all the fat. Use the remaining juices as a light sauce for the meat loaf or add them to the tomato sauce. Serve with tomato sauce if desired, or prepared ketchup.

Steps:

• saute the onion and garlic in the olive oil over medium heat until translucent, but not brown.
• add the thyme and carrot and cook 5 minutes more.
• add the tomatoes.
• bring to a boil, lower the heat and simmer for 30 minutes.
• season with salt to taste.
• serve immediately.
• the sauce may br refrigerated for up to one week or frozen for up to 6 months.

Steps:

• Heat the oil in a pan and add the vegetables and bay leaf. Stir in the sugar with some salt. Gently cook for 10-15 mins until the veg is tender. Stir in the tomatoes and 150ml water. Simmer very gently for 30 mins until the sauce has reduced by two-thirds and is very thick. (If you have doubled or tripled the quantities, this may take up to 1 hr.)
• Stir occasionally, particularly towards the end of the cooking time, so that the sauce doesn't catch on the bottom. If you like your sauce a little thinner, add a splash of water. Serve half with pasta and chill or freeze other half in 1-2 batches for later use (see 'Goes well with' for ideas of how to use up your sauce).