Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Food, Cooking, and Game Preparation sauce from fresh tomatoes

Anyone have a good recipe or tips for making sauce from fresh tomatoes?

I have a bunch of Roma's and cooked some down for sauce. About a pint, just enough to try for spaghetti.

I blanched 'em then peeled and cored, but didn't pull out the seeds and juice. Then mashed and cooked 'em down.

Added garlic, basil, onion powder, black pepper and salt.

Flavor was OK, but it was really watery.

Do I need to remove the seeds and juice? Or just cook down longer?

Thanks! Virgil B.

My guess would be to cook down longer. Even when I use whole Italian Roma tomatoes out of the can to make sauce, they are still a little watery coming out of the can and are cooked down.

Thanks!


I'll try that next time.

I only let 'em cook down until they looked like sauce.


I was getting hungry and wanted to eat soon! (grin!)

Virgil B.

Here is how it's done in our house. Sorry, it's all by sight, feel, and taste, but you'll get the idea.

Add a few tablespoons olive oil into large pot. Add a bunch of sweet yellow onions, and sweat down.

Separately, take garden maters. Cut an "x" across the top, and blanch briefly in boiling water until skin starts to pull away, then peel. Rough chop the maters and add to the pot with onions.

Then:

Add chicken broth. (it's going to be very thin and watery to begin).
Add fresh minced garlic.
Add basil.
Add oregeno.
Add "caldo de tomate" (Knorr tomato bullion - teaspoon-ish. Has MSG as a warning, but does wonders for the sauce).
Add black pepper.
Add red pepper flakes.
Add garlic salt to taste.

Now simmer. All day. Minimum 8 hours. Overnight in crockpot if possible. The longer the better.

Reduce to desired consistency, and you're there.

It's like a new work of art every time but always comes out great.

Yup leave the lid off and it will cook down fairly quick.

I know it's cheating but a teaspoon of tomato paste will also make a difference. BTW you make you own paste from those same tomatoes.

Happy cooking!!

Thanks guys!

Gotta try this again soon.

Virgil B.

Take a food processor, cut bad spots out of tomatoes and the vine off, and put the skin, seeds, and all. Add fresh onion, garlic and basil. Occasionally i'll add a carrot to the mix. It adds sweetness and makes a nice marinara sauce.

Simmer on the stove or in the crockpot without a lid till it reaches your desired thickness.

The food processor and leaving the skins on is a game changer......much less labor.

Just my O-pinion, but the skin and seeds add flavors I don't care for, especially if the seeds are crushed in the process. My wife has a Chinese soup/juice/soy milk machine and the juice she makes with the whole tomato tastes like tomato seed juice to me, and is too watery.

Cooked up another batch of my Roma's.

Blanched, then peeled and cored 'em.

Added spices and onion, then cooked down for about 6 hours.

Then added browned ground pork and simmered for two more hours.

Turned out GREAT this time! Not watery!

Virgil B.