7-veg tomato sauce | Vegetable recipe | Jamie Oliver recipes (2024)

FAQs

How do you make Jamie Oliver fresh tomato sauce? ›

Peel and finely slice the garlic, then place in a non-stick frying pan on a medium heat with 1 tablespoon of olive oil. Stir regularly until lightly golden. Pour in the tomatoes, either scrunching them through your hands, or breaking them up with a wooden spoon. Let it simmer on a low heat until your pasta is cooked.

Texture-wise, fat adds a rich, mouth-coating feel to a sauce, both when it's broken out of the sauce on its own, and when it is emulsified with the sauce's liquid phase, making the whole thing creamier. Add a bit of butter in there as well.

A generous sprig or two of fresh herbs like basil, parsley, rosemary, or sage can all amp up the flavor of a jarred pasta sauce. Alternatively, some of those herbs, like parsley, sage, and rosemary, can be great minced up and gently fried into fresh olive oil before adding the sauce to the pot.

The cooking temperature for tomato sauce is often underestimated, but it is actually essential for the flavours to develop to the fullest and to get a perfect consistency. Start by cooking the sauce over medium-high heat for a few minutes to allow any excess water to evaporate. But remember not to overcook it.

The reason for sprinkling a pinch of sugar into a simmering saucepan of tomatoes is simple: sugar cuts the acidity of the tomatoes and creates an overall more balanced sauce. The exact acid levels in tomatoes can vary quite a bit depending on whether they're fresh or canned, the tomato variety, and the time of year.

Add Some Baking Soda

If your tomato sauce is too acidic and verging on bitter, turn to baking soda, not sugar. Yes, sugar might make the sauce taste better, but good old baking soda is an alkaline that will help balance the excess acid. A little pinch should do the trick.

Cornstarch: Make a slurry of half water, half cornstarch and whisk until smooth. Cornstarch is a powerful thickener, so start by whisking in no more than 1 tablespoon of the mixture per 2 cups of simmering sauce; stir and simmer for 2 minutes, check the thickness, and repeat with more slurry as needed.

"I like to add roasted garlic, fresh basil, and sautéed chopped veggies like mushrooms, bell pepper, and onion into my sauce. This combination gives it a garden-variety taste and feel," Chase told Insider. Sometimes they'll also add red chili flakes or a drizzle of garlic oil to the sauce.

Add butter

Yes, that's right. Toss in a few tablespoons of butter, and let it melt into the sauce. If you've never tried it before, it might seem strange, but a little butter makes tomato sauce rich and smooth, and also balances out too much acidity, which is common in jarred sauces.

Does cooking tomato sauce longer make it taste better? ›

Tomato sauce deepens and intensifies the longer you cook it. Tomato sauces can be cooked in 10 minutes or for 4 hours, and they can all be delicious. Cooking sauces for a long time don't inherently make them better, but it does intensify the flavor.

To ensure a uniform, smooth texture. Tomato skins are tough and hard to chew, so removing them before you make sauces – especially canned sauces – is important. Avoid bitter flavor.

It's best to make your sauce without sugar at first, then taste it and add a pinch if necessary. There are also ways to sweeten sauces that don't rely on refined sugar. Giada De Laurentiis uses carrots to add a more nuanced touch of sweetness.

The minimum time you should simmer sauce is 30 minutes. This is about how long the oils take to disappear into the sauce (rather than pooling on top). But you should consider simmering for three or more hours, letting it lazily cook away, no more than a few straggling bubbles surfacing at a time.

To seed the tomatoes cut them in half crosswise. Cut carefully, since peeled tomatoes are extra slippery. Scoop the seeds out with a small measuring spoon or your fingers. If you're making a soup or sauce, put the discarded tomato pieces, peels, and seeds in a sieve over a bowl to catch any extra juices.

Fresh tomatoes: Try to stick with plum tomatoes, like Roma, San Marzano, and cherry tomatoes. Be sure to peel the tomatoes (and remove the seeds, if you like, but it's not necessary). White sugar: The sugar will balance out the acidity and give the sauce a hint of sweetness.