Basic Sweet Basil Pasta Sauce
2 quarts
ingredients:
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 medium onion (fine dice)
- ¼ tsp red pepper flake
- 1 tbsp tomato paste
- 8 oz cherry tomatoes
- 2 x 28 oz San Marzano tomatoes in sauce
- 2 stalks sweet basil
- 1 large carrot (quartered)
- rind of parmesan/romano cheese
- 1 tbsp salt
- Drain the liquid/sauce from the tomatoes and retain.
- With an immersion blender (or by hand) puree the whole tomatoes.
- Heat the olive oil in a pot over medium heat. Add the onion and cook until softened, stirring often.
- Add the tomato paste, pepper flake, and cherry tomatoes. Continue stirring until the paste begins to stick to the pot and the cherry tomatoes are blistered.
- Add the tomato puree and sauce, carrot, basil, and cheese rind. Bring to a simmer for 30 to 40 minutes.
- Remove the carrot, cheese rind, and basil stems. Add salt to taste (1 tbsp tasted right in my batch).
At this point the sauce can be used as-is or warmed for service. I did not add any garlic to this recipe because I often find its flavor easily overtakes the freshness of the tomato flavor; if you wanted to add a tsp of granulated garlic at step 5 — or minced raw garlic at step 4 — that's up to you.