This is a really simple recipe for an Italian style tomato sauce. In the UK we tend to dress our pasta with a lot more sauce than the Italians do (dare I say too much? ). If you can’t find really ripe fresh tomatoes, use tinned. You won’t get good results with supermarket ‘bounceable’ toms. This recipe is makes enough sauce to dress 4 portions of pasta. Really! Trust me! 🙂 On this occasion I served the sauce with linguine, but it goes equally well with many other short or long pastas (e.g. spaghetti, bucatini , sedani, penne, cavatelli etc.)
Tomato sauce ingredients
- 250g tinned tomatoes or peeled fresh tomatoes
- A pinch of sugar (optional)
- 2 cloves of garlic, lightly crushed
- 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 10 fresh basil leaves, torn
- salt
- Put the tomatoes and their juice into a saucepan along with the garlic, sugar and a good pinch of salt. Cover and heat gently for about 30 minutes without stirring.
- Remove the garlic and mash the tomatoes with a wooden spoon. If you’re using tinned tomatoes cook uncovered for a further 15 minutes until the sauce has reduced.
- Remove from the heat and allow to cool slightly.
- Immediately before serving, stir in the olive oil and the basil.
- Use to dress pasta
Tomato sauce
Linguine with tomato sauce
