My Italian Grandmothers Basic Homemade Tomato Sauce. I am Italian. Im picky about my tomato sauces, but probably not in the way you think. I like them understated, balanced, bright and fresh even though I used canned tomatoes. If you need a recipe for fresh garden tomato sauce, I have one here. Here is a Video I made for my Italian Grandmothers Homemade Tomato Sauce. I make two kinds of tomato sauces. Instead of simmering them on the stove, roast the ingredients together in the oven for a sauce with a rich, smoky taste. A step by step tutorial on how to make a delicious sauce using ripe, garden fresh tomatoes. Need a gift for a gardener or foodie in your life Put together this Grow a Tomato Sauce Garden gift basket filled with herbs, tomato plants and more Hello, friends This is a process on how to cook tomatoes down to a base sauce. For uses like Marinara, Pizza sauce, Ketchup, Spaghetti sauce, Picante sauce, etc. The basic sauce is plain and balanced,  with no seeds, no pulp, nothing chunky, suitable for a manicotti or ravioli, the kind my Italian grandmother and my aunts made. It didnt have to have meat, although it often did. This is the recipe Im sharing here. It is the only tomato sauce I make that takes longer than 4. Its the little black dress of many Italian dishes. Easy, authentic, homemade tomato sauce is what I grew up on nearly every Sunday, maybe made with meatballs and spaghetti, maybe made plain and used for stuffed shells. If youre looking for a sauce that has a lot of ingredients and spices and sits on the stove all day building up acid and later an attack to your stomach, this is not the sauce for you. I liken that kind of mutated tomato sauce to cheap, tacky dresses that never make a woman look good. No no no, this is the Audrey Hepburn of sauces. Classy, classic, understated, hard to improve. In tomato sauce terms, bright, fresh, clean, as opposed to the heavy, overpowering, overcooked, over seasoned sauce found in one of those restaurants with red checkered table cloths and Chianti bottles holding candles. You shouldnt eat at those places. Thats like thinking every Italian is in the Mafia or on Jersey Shore. They are not its just that those stereotype train wrecks are just fun to watch. In South Philly, where my family originated,  this basic sauce was simply referred to as gravy. If you really want to get into the head of Italian cooking, watch this scene from the Big Night. Its hysterical, but it explains a lot. Easy, Authentic, Homemade tomato sauce is almost as easy as opening up a jar, but better. In Italy, restraint for tomato sauce is understood. In America, the sauce reflects our culture and  the way  we are. We think more is more, more ingredients, more cooking time, giant portions. When I make classic spaghetti and meatballs, I like to use this basic sauce, maybe with some optional red chili flakes. I usually make a sauce like this for lasagna, manicotti or stuffed shells. I always start with San Marzano tomatoes, DOP. They cost twice as much as regular Italian plum tomatoes, but they are worth it. This is one place to splurge. I use the Cento D. O. P. certified Italian Tomatoes. You will taste the difference. Baking Salmon In Oven. How to Make Homemade Tomato Sauce. These tomatoes squish easily in your hand and are then taken through a food mill to make sure there is no pulp or seeds. I saut big chunks of onion with a few cloves of garlic olive oil, then add in the tomato puree. A little salt, pepper, parsley or fresh basil and thats it. If I dont happen to have San Marzano tomatoes, I add a carrot to the sauce to sweeten it up a bit. Images/recipe/41/R150844.jpg.rendition.largest.jpg' alt='Garden Tomato Sauce' title='Garden Tomato Sauce' />This was fantastic Ive made sauce many times before with big tomatoes but really didnt want to peel all those little ones I keep pulling in from my garden. I cook it just to the point that Im happy with the thickness. This sauce is strained to a puree, to make sure I get out all of the onion and herbs. I cook this sauce no longer than two hours on very low and that is just to reduce it down. This homemade tomato sauce just might  be good enough at one hour and that all depends on the viscosity you desire. Thats just a fancy word for the flow or thickness of the sauce. If youre stretched for time, you can make my grandmothers homemade tomato sauce in one  hour. If youre stretched for time, do this. Do NOT add water. Use one onion, quartered and one carrot quartered per 2 4 cans of strained tomatoes. Cook for one hour on low. For extra flavor, use an immersion blender and blend in the onion and carrots. Freeze this homemade tomato sauce for future meals. Make a double or triple batch. Make sure sauce is cooled completely, and freeze in large ziplock bags for up to six months. Take out and defrost in a bowl of cold water. This is a great sauce for Veal Meatballs. You might want to go and make some homemade pasta to go with it. This sauce is great in Manicotti. This sauce is perfect for my Spinach Lasagna. Try it with Eggplant Parmesan, theres also a gluten free optionTo find out about some other great tomato sauces and one of the worlds legendary Italian cookbook authors, see the article I wrote here about cooking Italy with Marcella Hazan for a year. Gluten free Pizza Crust recipes. My Italian Grandmothers Basic Homemade Tomato Sauce Total time  4 hours 1. My grandmothers easy Italian tomato sauce made with San Marzano Tomatoes. San Marzano Tomatoes I use thesefresh basil or parsley. Saute onion and carrots for 5 minutes on low. Add in garlic for a few minutes, being careful not to brown. Strain tomatoes either using a food mill or colander. This recipe is for a smooth marinara sauce. You can, however, chop the tomatoes and use entire can. If you use good tomatoes as I recommend, you will not have any waste, when using food mill. Add in softened butter. Season with salt pepper and herbs. Cook on low with no lid for 2 to 4 hours, stirring frequently, or put in a crock pot on low for 6 to 8 hours. Strain out the vegetables and herbs before serving. Grow a Tomato Sauce Garden Gift Basket. Hello, friends Todays one of my favourite days in the blogging world as were kicking off this years OUTDOOR EXTRAVAGANZA Can you believe its the 6th go around for this series already Weve certainly tackled our fair share of outdoor projects. Some of my favourites from past years are my tool box planters, rustic bench container garden and flea market table setting. If you havent started working outdoors yet, nows the time I promise youll be inspired to get your hands dirty updating your outdoor space so youre ready to host that summer party or simply kick back and soak up some glorious sunshine. Ive invited some of my favourite bloggers to join me once again. Some have been with me almost from the beginning, but youll see a few newcomers as well. Over the next few Thursdays, well be sharing our Plants Flowers projects, Outdoor Decorating Entertaining ideas, as well as Build it Paint projects. Then, on May 2. 6th, we invite you to come back for one big OUTDOOR EXTRAVAGANZA link party, where you can share your own outdoor projects and discover something newTo kick things off, were sharing our PLANTS FLOWERS projects todayIf theres someone in your life whos a gardener and foodie, this Grow a Tomato Sauce Garden gift basket is perfect. Still trying to come up with a Mothers Day present You can put this gardening kit together in almost no time at all. Or consider it instead for Fathers Day, a birthday, for the hostess or any other spring occasion. I started with a quick trip to a local garden centre to pick up the herbs and tomato plants. Tomato sauce can be made using all kinds of ingredients, but for this one I selected Oregano. Parsley. Basil. Thyme. Rosemary. Roma Tomato. Cherry Tomato. I also grabbed some onion bulbs and a package of carrot seeds. As with most plants from the greenhouse, these ones came in unattractive plastic pots. So, I decided to transfer them into inexpensive terracotta pots. To keep track of the plants, I created better looking garden markers too. You can place the labels that came with the pots into an envelope and tuck them into the gift basket. Quite often, they contain additional information for optimal growing conditions or recipe ideas, so pass them along. Cute, right See how I made these vegetable and herb markers. Almost any basket or bin will do. Just make sure its large enough. I selected a galvanized one that can double as a planter or be used for summer entertaining. I have a similar bin that sits on the bottom shelf of our outdoor bar cart. Filled with ice, its perfect for cold beverages. For the liner, I used tissue paper for some height covered with an oversized tea towel. I also used some shredded paper on top to keep the tea towel from getting dirty. Then, I assembled the whole basket starting with the potted plants. For the onions, I simply removed the cardboard label from the top, cut a bit of the plastic mesh down and tied it up with jute string. I added the onion label to the same envelope as the herb and tomato labels and placed them all into the bin. I tucked the carrot seed envelope in between the pots too. Feel free to add other seed packets, like celery or spinach. To finish the whole thing off, I printed a grow your own tomato sauce card and attached it to the bin with a tiny clothespin. Heres the graphic I created that you can download and print onto a 46 card or envelope for personal use only. I got the vintage basil herb image from the graphics fairy. Simply click on the image to download and save as a PDF. Choose these settings 46 paper size, fit to page and black and white on your printer or colour if thats what you prefer. Have someone in mind who would love this tomato sauce garden kit Pin it for later Ready to take a look at the other Plants Flowers projectsSome of my blogging friends are sharing their own outdoor gardening ideas. Stop by and say hello we love comments and shares How to Give a Basic Clay Pot a Beautiful Copper Patina Finish by The Happy Housie. Faux Succulent Bird Cage Planter by Making it in the Mountains. Tomato Sauce Garden Gift Basket by Satori Design for Living. Paint Dipped Succulent Log Planter by The DIY Mommy. Front Porch Planters by Craftberry Bush. Spring Patio Flowers by Elliven Studio. The Best Tip for Filling Large Planters by So Much Better with Age. Be sure to come back next Thursday, May 1. Outdoor Decorating Entertaining projects. Also, mark your calendars for the Outdoor Extravaganza wrap up link party on Friday, May 2. If you dont want to miss any part of this outdoor series, I encourage you to subscribe to get post updates.