5 Aug 2011

Spicy Italian Tomato Sauce

Tomatoes, garlic and olive oil are the basis of Italian cooking. Tomatoes are bursting with vitamins and minerals. The Italians have a very low incidence of heart disease, thanks to the colourful wholefood.


The age old process of preparing the ingredients for an Italian meal was labour intensive and required hours of hardwork - homemade pasta ribbons, extracting olive oil, baking breads in stone ovens etc.
 
Now with the availability of ready made ingredients most of the hardwork is already been done - by someone else:) Supermarkets are flooded with all sorts of ready made sauces that making a choice is so difficult:)

I spend hours browsing through the super market racks to a point that I can't think straight anymore:)


This sauce is very simple and basic but it is a life saver. It can be used for pastas, pizzas, garlic bread bruschetta and sandwich base, vegetable or chicken bakes etc. The list is endless. I will be posting recipes with this tomato sauce as base shortly..:)

Tomatoes [large]: 6.
Tinned tomatoes: 1 can [400gms].
Garlic pods [large]: 10-12.
Red chilli flakes: 1 tsp.
Vegetable stock cube: 1.


Hot water: 300ml.
Tomato paste: 2 tbsp.
Dried Italian herbs: 1 tsp.
Fresh thyme: 3-4 sprigs.
Fresh basil: a handful.
Salt: to taste
Olive oil: 2 tbsp.

Making the sauce:
1.Chop the tomatoes to medium size pieces. Slice the garlic to thin slices.
2.Heat olive oil in a large sauce pan on medium flame. Add the chilli flakes and garlic. Fry for 2-3 minutes until the oil turns red.


3.Add the raw chopped tomatoes and cook for 5 minutes until half done.
4.Add the canned tomatoes, dried italian herbs, tomato paste and vegetable stock cube. Mix everything well and cook for 2-3 mins.
5.Add water and half of the fresh herbs.
6.Lower the flame and cover the pan. Let it simmer for at least 30-40 minutes. Stir occasionally.
7.Open the lid and reduce the sauce to a thick consistency until oil floats on top.
8.Put of the flame, check for salt and add the reserved fresh herbs.
9.Cool and store in a clean airtight container in the fridge.


Note:This keeps well in the refrigerator for upto a week. Onions, carrots, celery and bell peppers can be added to the sauce. The sauce can be prepared with raw tomatoes or canned tomatoes alone. I like to mix both.

The amount of chilli flakes used is upto you. The tomato paste comes in tube form and is available in most super markets.

A gentle reminder friends, do send in your entries "Herbs and Flowers: Basil" as I am not getting any recipe entries.... Do make the event a success dearies:) 

Sending this to "Dish it Out :Tomato and Chilli", an event by Vardhini and "Herbs and Flowers: Basil" an event by PJ , both event guest hosted by me.




Enjoy.....


Scribbled by Reva

43 comments:

Santosh Bangar said...

yummy tomato sauce.
i am follow u but never heard from u .do visit

Santosh Bangar said...

tempting inviting sauce
i am follow u hope from u

Unknown said...

Slurrp...tomato sauce yummmy

priya said...

awesome and very very nice presentation

Kaveri Venkatesh said...

Wow...such a colorful, flavorful and yummy looking sauce...beautiful clicks

Zareena said...

Wow!!! yummy and colourful sauce. Perfect presentation and wonderful clicks dear.

Unknown said...

Wow!!!!!! lovely, colorful, inviting tomato sauce.......

Rekha shoban said...

yummy sauce!!!nice clicks!

Nandita SS said...

Oh gosh!!! What yummy tomato sauce. Beautifully shot as well :)

chef and her kitchen said...

I love this...looks delicious n yummm

Vimitha Durai said...

Tangy and yummy sauce

Prema said...

Wow delicious tomato sauce,love the clicks...too gud.

Unknown said...

wow dear awesome!

Don't worry...I am getting ready with a recipe to send it to you!

Suman Singh said...

Delicious and tempting tomato sauce.. I just adore the combination of tomato, basil and olive oil!

KrithisKitchen said...

Super easy sauce Reva.. I have one recipe for basil ready to be posted next week...

Suja Manoj said...

Yummy sauce,thanks for sharing..beautiful clicks.

Taste Melanger said...

This sauce is surely a saviour..for pasta, pizza & hwta not. And I don't like the smell/flavour of canned stuff in any case..like the new look of ur blog & pics :)

Neha said...

Lovely recipe Reva...This is actually a life saver, as you said..

Ramya said...

Simply superb!! tangy n yummy sauce:-) love the flavors

S said...

lovely..!!!

Prathima Shivraj said...

tomato sauce is colorful and spicy, bookmarked this.

Unknown said...

Absolutely love the pic and almost drooling over the sauce, garlic pieces and basil in it, love it :)

Raksha said...

The clicks are so good ... pls tell me how do u take such good ones.

aipi said...

Your sauce looks so colorful n flavorful ~ love the pretty ripe tomatoes!
Us Masala

Reshmi Mahesh said...

Lovely clicks and yummy looking sauce...

Sobha Shyam said...

wow, what a lovely recipe, very tempting sauce, a refreshing look..

Vatsala. said...

Superb .....the recipe nd the clicks

Invitation for a Potluck
Event - LGSS_Potato

Pushpa said...

Yummy flavorful sauce with great clicks.

Cooking Foodie said...

The sauce looks yummm... how can tomatoes and basil go wrong :)
I have a basil recipe in the drafts... its coming to ur event soon...

Unknown said...

Reva,Luv the color of italian tomato Sauce,So fresh herbs and ingredients..Sure,it must taste great

Vardhini said...

Yummy one Reva. I stick with store bought kind too these days due to lack of time.

Vardhini
Checkout my 100th post giveaway

Plateful said...

Looks so yum and delish! I love basil flavor in sauces.

Raks said...

Never attempted making these kind of sauces at home,looks so appealing and it should be far better than the store bought ones..

nishaslifestyle.blogspot.com said...

wow its a treat not alone for tongue, for life too...healthy infrmn with healthy sauce...cool

Nayana said...

it looks so yummy and shots are so so stunning....

Nithya said...

Perfect sauce. Loving it a lot and craving to taste it :)

Luv'n Spoonfuls said...

My family really prefers home made red sauce to anything I can buy, and your recipe looks like a great one to bookmark as well. So full of the colors of summer...I can almost taste it!

Vidhya said...

Italian with a spicy twist sounds so yummy.

Kurryleaves said...

this looks soooo good

lubnakarim06 said...

Basil is the key ingredient of this recipe....looks yum....

Anonymous said...

Hi Reva, the sauce looks lovely and colorful...waiting for recipes based on this sauce

Gayathri Ramdas Sreekanth said...

I am looking for pasta sauce recipes forever ! This seems great ! Lovely space and fab collection of recipes !

Indu said...

nice snaps!

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