Classic Italian tomato sauce

The classic tomato sauce you can use not only for pasta and pasta dishes but is also perfect for your fresh pizza. This Italian classic is prepared in a few minutes and can be cooked from 10 minutes to 3 hours, depending on the intensity of flavor.

Why peel tomatoes?

Because the skin of the tomato, due to its thick structure, may be in one piece even after cooking or pureeing, especially for soups or sauces, the tomato should be peeled before preparation. The more delicate you want to make your sauce or soup, the more likely you will use peeled tomatoes for cooking.

Of course, you can also puree the skin. Cut the tomatoes with skin into small pieces, so the probability is less likely to have later larger skin residue in the soup or sauce.

When pureeing, be aware that the tomato seeds, depending on the amount, can make your sauce or soup bitter.

How to peel tomatoes easily in 4 steps ?

1. To peel or skin the tomato in the easiest way you should score the skin with the tip of a sharp knife on the underside of the vegetable. Recommended here are 2 cuts crosswise.

2. Now put the tomatoes into boiling water for about 30 seconds. This step is also called scalding or blanching. The process of scalding or blanching is not only used for peeling tomatoes, but also for other fruits and vegetables, such as apricots. This way, you will not only succeed in making a skin-free tomato sauce, but also the next apricot cake without any effort.

3. After cooking, remove the tomatoes from the boiling water with a ladle and place them in a bowl or dish of cold water. Quenching the tomatoes immediately interrupts the cooking process, which continues even after they are removed from the boiling water.

4.The skin of the tomato can now be peeled particularly easily with a knife at the incised point.

How to thicken tomato sauce?

In order to thicken the consistency of the tomato sauce, you must first bring it to a boil. Once the sauce boils, reduce the heat slightly. By bringing to a boil and simmering slightly, you can bring the sauce to the desired consistency by stirring constantly, as excess water can simply evaporate.

If you want to thicken the sauce further, you can also use starch or wheat flour (type 405). The high starch content of the flour binds the liquid. Depending on the consistency you have to vary the amount of flour or starch.

How to season tomato sauce correctly?

The classic tomato sauce is seasoned with garlic, onions and herbs (oregano, rosemary, thyme). A spicy Arrabiata you can additionally conjure up with chili and basil.

To spice up your tomato sauce, you can add a pinch of sugar. If that’s not enough, add a dash of red wine, a teaspoon of cream or sweet fruits like mango. Of course, salt and pepper must not be missing in any sauce.

How to deacidify tomato sauce?

To get the acid out of your tomato sauce you can add a pinch or a teaspoon of sugar. Also, pay attention to the choice of tomatoes.

Inexpensive canned tomatoes often have citric acid added to preserve the tomatoes. Also, green tomatoes or second choice tomatoes are often added to discount products. These are usually more acidic than 1st choice.

If you have the possibility to use yellow or orange tomatoes, you should use them, because they have a milder taste than their red counterparts.

Another alternative to sugar is to add cream to the tomato sauce.

Italians often cook their tomato sauce without sugar. For this you can simply cook a grated carrot. This takes the acidity of the sauce and gives it a certain sweetness.

If you are already done cooking, you can round off the sauce with the juice of a freshly squeezed orange.

How long do you cook tomato sauce?

You can cook tomato sauce in 10 to 30 minutes. If you want to offer a more sophisticated sauce, you can cook it on the stove for 1 to 3 hours. The longer you let the sauce cook, the more concise and flavorful the sauce will be. In Italy, it is often customary to make the sugo/sauce in the morning and serve it at lunch or in the afternoon. This allows it to simmer for half a day. Especially with a larger amount of tomato sugo, for several people, a longer cooking time should be chosen.

How to store tomatoes properly?

The tomato is best stored unpacked in a shady, airy place. If you store the tomatoes in the refrigerator, it can happen that the flesh of the tomato loses its flavor and becomes mealy. The optimal storage temperature is between 12 and 16 degrees Celsius.

To let your unripe tomatoes ripen, it is best to put them in a bright and warm place.

Since tomatoes emit ethylene gas, you should not store them next to ripe fruits and vegetables. The ethylene will cause the surrounding fruits and vegetables to spoil faster.

Can tomato sauce be frozen ?

You can of course freeze your homemade tomato sauce in the freezer. Make sure that the sauce has cooled down completely, otherwise you will damage the freezer and its contents as well as the sauce itself. Once the sauce has cooled you can put it in a container with a lid, a jar, freezer container or freezer bag, and place it in your freezer. When frozen, the tomato sauce will keep for about 3 months. After thawing, you should season the sauce again with spices to give it back the necessary pep.

Can you freeze tomato sauce multiple times?

If you want to freeze your tomato sauce a second time, you should boil it thoroughly after the first thawing and let it cool down again. Then you can freeze it a second time. When you defrost it again, you should season the sauce again with fresh spices.

Can whole tomatoes be frozen?

If you want to freeze tomatoes directly, first remove the stems from the tomatoes, then cut the vegetables into pieces and put them in a container or freezer bag in your freezer. For example, you can freeze cocktail tomatoes directly without cutting them into pieces first. Raw tomatoes when frozen should last at least 6 to 12 months in the freezer.

Can you freeze tomato soup?

For a soup or sauce with milk or cream, you should know before freezing that when thawing and reheating, the fats and oils can separate from the remaining liquids and fluff up. In the refrigerator, soups with cream have a much shorter shelf life than frozen. Once cream soup is cooked and cooled, it will only keep in the refrigerator for a maximum of three days on the top shelf.

Can pureed tomatoes be frozen?

Of course, you can freeze tomatoes pureed. They will keep frozen not only whole or cut, but also after pureeing. As with whole or sliced tomatoes, you should wash the vegetables thoroughly beforehand and remove the greens. Then puree and freeze in a jar with a lid or freezer container.

How many tomatoes should one eat per day?

Since lycopene is particularly valuable for health, nutritionists and experts recommend an amount of 250 grams of tomatoes per day. Tomatoes contain the plant substance solanine, which is toxic to humans and protects the plant from pests and fungi. However, the concentration of 0 to 0.7 milligrams per 100 grams is so low that there is usually no danger to humans. Only at a level of one milligram per kilogram of body weight is the dose too high. A dose of three milligrams per kilogram of body weight or more poses an acute danger to life. Since solanine is mostly found in the green parts of the plant and especially in green, unripe tomatoes, there is virtually no danger with ripe red tomatoes. The yellow cultivated form of the tomato or cocktail tomato also contains virtually no solanine.