simple tomato sauce

This was sort of a "sauce-on-the-fly," as I really wasn't sure what to make for Wednesday's dinner and I wasn't feeling incredibly inspired to make something complex. I was pleased enough with the result, however, that I reinacted its creation last night (I had snuck a bite of the Wednesday pasta to make sure it tasted okay; I subsequently wished that I was eating it, too).

This may sound funny, but tomato sauce, for all it's simplicity, is something I've had some trouble getting right. Or at least, I've had trouble making something that tasted like some of the really fantastic tomato sauces I've had over the course of my life (granted I'm young, but I have a very good ratio of years lived to bowls of pasta eaten). This is the closest I've come to meeting my criteria for a good sauce.

ALSO: I do not always measure things when I cook, which some may find horribly frustrating. I've given general amounts, but remember that you can (and should) adjust things according to your personal tastes as well as the quality of your ingredients. For example, if you are worried that your sauce may be too acidic in taste, throw some grated carrot in with the shallots and garlic; it will cook down with the aromatics and sweeten the sauce without you (heaven forbid) adding any sugar. Or if fresh tomatoes seem mealy or flavorless, substitute canned tomatoes. This recipe is not worth making with fresh tomatoes outside of tomato season, as the final product will be ultimately lacking in flavor. You can also mix it up by using heirloom tomatoes of different colors and puréeing only a portion of the sauce, preserving some of the distinctiveness of each fruit. You can also add a pinch of saffron along with the wine in step 2 to take the flavor in another direction altogether.

In other words, think outside the box.


Simple Tomato Sauce
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1/2-1 tablespoon butter
- 1/2-3/4 pounds of shallots (about 4-6 medium shallots), minced
- Pinch of salt
- 2 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
- 1/2 cup white wine
- 1 tablespoon tomato paste
- 1 1/2 pounds Roma tomatoes (I used a mixture of Roma and dry-farmed tomatoes, which have a more concentrated tomato flavor), seeded and diced
- Salt
- Freshly ground black pepper
- 3 tablespoons heavy cream, optional (I like adding a little cream to this sauce as it both enriches it and slightly lightens the flavor; you can also always add more!)
- About 1/2 cup fresh basil leaves, optional

1. Heat the olive oil and butter in a large saucepan or deep-sided skillet over medium-low heat. Listen for the milk solids in the butter to begin cooking (they will make a slight sizzling noise and create bubbles), and add the shallots. Sprinkle a pinch of salt over the shallots (this will cause them to release some of their liquid and become soft as opposed to crisp) and cook for one minute. Add the sliced garlic and cook, stirring occasionally, until the shallots and garlic are soft and translucent, about ten minutes.
2. Add the wine to the pan and adjust heat to maintain a low simmer. Stir occasionally until the liquid is reduced and barely coats the bottom of the pan. Add the tomato paste and stir to combine.
3. Add the seeded and diced tomatoes to the pan. Stir briefly and cover pan. Cook on medium-low heat, stirring occasionally, for 20-25 minutes or until tomatoes have softened and broken down into a chunky, thick sauce.
4. Remove from heat; carefully pour sauce into a blender and pulse until desired consistency is reached (the sauce is a bit thick for an immersion blender; I used one and I sauced myself a bit). Transfer sauce back into pan and season to taste with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Add cream and stir until fully incorporated. After saucing pasta, tear or chiffonade basil leaves and sprinkle over the completed dish.

This recipe makes enough to sauce one pound of pasta. I put a pot of water on to boil right after I added the tomatoes to the pan; I add the pasta to the water after I've moved the sauce to the blender. This gives me enough time to blend the sauce, season it, and add the cream without micro-managing my pasta. Once the pasta is done, I use tongs or one of those toothy spoons (forgive the non-technical label, I am going to go hunt on Sur la Table for the correct term in a moment) to transfer the pasta directly into the sauce. I never rinse my pasta if it's going to be sauced; rinsing strips the pasta of all the fantastic little starch particles that help it hold the sauce. Moving the pasta directly into the sauce after cooking also ensures that those fantastic little starch particles won't make the pasta strands hold onto each other. After saucing, I tear up the basil leaves or cut them in a chiffonade and add them to the pasta (this way they stay bright green and add freshness to the sauce). I ate this with a small mountain of freshly grated Pecorino-Romano (Pecorino is the new Parmesan) and a glass of milk (what can I say, I like milk; you can go nuts and have wine, I don't care).

Enjoy! And try this before all of the good fresh tomatoes are gone!