Description
This Italian Tomato Sauce is a classic and flavorful sauce made with pantry staples like canned tomatoes, onion, carrots, garlic, extra virgin olive oil, and dried oregano. It’s quick and easy to make, and tastes delicious tossed with your favorite pasta or served with crusty bread for dipping.
Ingredients
Units
Scale
- 3 to 4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 1 medium yellow onion, finely diced
- 1 small carrot, peeled and finely diced
- 3 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- A pinch of red pepper flakes
- 1 28oz can whole peeled tomatoes (or crushed tomatoes)
- 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt, or to taste
- 1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar (or sugar)
- Fresh basil, for garnish
Instructions
- Saute the veggies. Add the olive oil to a large pot over medium heat. Once the oil is hot, add the onion, carrot, and crushed garlic. Let cook for 8 to 10 minutes, stirring often to prevent the garlic from burning.
- Cook the sauce. Add the dried oregano, a pinch of red pepper flakes, the canned tomatoes and their juices, 1 ¾ cup water, baking soda, salt, and balsamic vinegar (or sugar if using). Bring to a boil for 1 minute, then reduce the heat to low and let simmer, uncovered, for 25 minutes.
- Puree the sauce. Remove the pot from the heat. Use an immersion blender to puree the sauce until smooth. Serve tossed with your favorite pasta and garnish with fresh basil leaves.
Notes
- How to serve this tomato sauce with pasta: Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add your pasta of choice and cook until al dente according to the package instructions. Drain the pasta, reserving some of the pasta cooking water. Add the pasta to a large bowl or back to the pot. Add some of the finished pasta sauce to the pasta and toss until evenly coated. If needed, add a little of the reserved pasta water if the pasta seems too dry. Serve each bowl of pasta with an extra spoonful of tomato sauce on top. Garnish with fresh basil and a generous amount of freshly grated parmesan cheese if desired.
- Tomatoes: I recommend using San Marzano tomatoes. These are Italian plum tomatoes which have more tomato flesh, less seeds, and lower water content, which makes an incredible sauce. If you can’t find San Marzano tomatoes, then try to use canned tomatoes that are from Italy. These are usually higher quality than other tomatoes and are perfect for making tomato sauce.
- Nutrition information is a rough estimate based on 4 servings without pasta.
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 35 minutes
- Category: Dinner
- Method: Stovetop
- Cuisine: Italian
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 254g
- Calories: 143
- Sugar: 7g
- Sodium: 902mg
- Fat: 10.7g
- Saturated Fat: 1.4g
- Unsaturated Fat: 7.4g
- Trans Fat: 0g
- Carbohydrates: 11.7g
- Fiber: 4.7g
- Protein: 2.1g
- Cholesterol: 0mg