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Basic Sweet Basil Pasta Sauce

What do you do when dinner time is imminent and you're meant to be serving spaghetti and meatballs but you have no pasta sauce in your pantry?

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
  1. Drain the liquid/sauce from the tomatoes and retain.
  2. With an immersion blender (or by hand) puree the whole tomatoes.
  3. Heat the olive oil in a pot over medium heat. Add the onion and cook until softened, stirring often.
  4. 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.
  5. Add the tomato puree and sauce, carrot, basil, and cheese rind. Bring to a simmer for 30 to 40 minutes.
  6. 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.


Written by Jeff Frey on Thursday June 5, 2025
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