Basic Tomato Sauce Doesn't Have to Taste Basic

Confession time:  I learned how to make great tomato-based sauces because of a love of strong coffee.  Back in the day, when the Husbro and I were first starting out, our budget was limited and often stretched to near-breaking.  Grocery buying was an oftentimes painful act of financial contortion.  But man, did we love coffee.  Good coffee, dark coffee, strong coffee (we met and fell in love in a coffee shop, how could we not love the stuff?).

But good coffee can get expensive, even when you're buying the beans and grinding them yourself (as opposed to the grand- frappe-extra-whip-extra-shot-extra-sprinkles-double-cup-double-double monstrosities people spend their money on), so I had to find ways to cut back in other areas.  One of those areas was tomato sauce.   Having never found a particular brand of tomato sauce flavourful enough to win my loyalty, and the fact that the prepared stuff is loaded with salt and sugar, but most importantly, that it was $2-3 more than canned tomatoes, it was an easy swap to homemade sauce, using canned tomatoes.

Of course buying canned tomatoes meant I actually had to build my own flavours (I don't recommend dumping a can of tomatoes over your pasta as is), and through trial and error, I found the most basic of tomato sauces that is anything but basic.

Your tomato sauce doesn't have to be basic either.  The flavour-stacking of a good tomato sauce can take you in some really funky directions but it does help to start with the basics.


So let's talk basics:

The most basic element of a good tomato sauce (and many other sauces) is a mirepoix ( pronounced meer-PWAH if you were wondering).  A mirepoix is a mixture of chopped onion, celery and carrots.  Seriously basic.  

It's sautéed in olive oil or butter (or a mixture) until it starts to caramelize and break down.  I usually keep it on a medium (leaning slightly to medium high heat) stirring often.  This flavour base is used in everything from stocks to soups, and yes, sauces.  While the onion/carrot/celery mirepoix is the traditional French application, there are other ingredients that can be added (green pepper, garlic, etc.).  While it looks finicky, as long as you have a good sharp knife, after a few rounds, it takes less than 10 minutes to chop.  You'll be glad you did.  Add your salt and pepper now as it also helps to break down the veg and integrate the flavours.



Welcome to the Cheat:

I found this at the dollar store.  Seriously, it cost $1.25.



Onion flakes, garlic flakes, chili flakes and a tomato-kind of seasoning.  It's mild, and go easy on the chili, but it's a quick and easy add.










Now for the Good Stuff:

I wait until my basic mirepoix has broken down a bit (7-10 minutes) to add my garlic.  It's a much quicker cook because it's much smaller.  If you scorch your garlic, game over.  Throw it out and start again.  There is no fix for that.  So as you can see my Big Three have broken down considerably.  Lower your heat to medium.













Check This Out:

These were diced tomatoes a minute ago.  I prefer crushed, but hey, I still like to save a buck so whatever is on special is what's in my cupboard.  And diced keeps my options open.

Blender takes care of the "diced" situation but first things first.













Because Wine:

A nice addition to this sauce is about 1/4 cup of red wine. 




And the even nicer thing is that leaves a lot left in the bottle.  Husbro and I prefer red wine over coffee when it comes to pasta (which is ultimately where we're headed tonight).  Let that simmer over med heat another five minutes, stirring frequently.












Here We Go:

Pretty.

This is your basic tomato sauce.  You want to turn your heat to low so you A. don't burn it, and B. don't have a million blobs of splattered tomato sauce to clean off of your oven.  Add more salt and pepper to taste.  Enjoy.

Or we can go a few steps further.



Next Stop, Rose:

This is another cheat and I do it because I never trust the acidity of the tomatoes not to curdle my cream, but a true rose uses cream and frankly, it's not something I generally have on hand (For sauces.  Coffee, yes, sauces, no.).  But I will usually have sour cream.  I added about 1/3-1/2 cup and got this little beauty.


I also like to add fresh chopped parsley and basil to all my sauces, but I like to wait until close to the end.  This particular sauce also contains some of the pulled chicken from last week's post and capers.  I mean, once you have the basics, you can really go wherever you like.















Just because it's so pretty, here is the finished product:

Not so basic-looking now, is it?  But you and I know better.