basic tomato sauce for pasta

(1 rating)
Recipe by
Michelle Sebastian
Washington, DC

This sauce is easy and can be dressed up or down with seasoning to suit any dish or taste - play with it and discover your inner Italian!

(1 rating)
prep time 10 Min
cook time 30 Min
method Stove Top

Ingredients For basic tomato sauce for pasta

  • 28 oz
    italian style plum tomatoes
  • 6 oz
    tomato paste
  • 1
    white onions, chopped
  • 4 clove
    garlic, minced
  • crushed red pepper flakes
  • olive oil
  • red wine
  • a pinch of sugar

How To Make basic tomato sauce for pasta

  • 1
    Heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil in large pan. Add garlic and brown. Add onion and saute until translucent, about 2 minutes.
  • 2
    Add tomatoes and break them up as they cook to create a sauce, leaving the tomatoes as chunky as you like, about 5 minutes.
  • 3
    When the garlic, onions and tomatoes are at a bubbling boil, stir in tomato paste until smooth. Add about 1/2 cup of red wine (or as little or much to your taste) and a pinch of sugar (to cut the tomato acidity), about 5 minutes.
  • 4
    Finally, for serving with meatballs (or whenever you want a sauce to stand out), add crushed red pepper flakes - a little goes a long way, so no more than 2 teaspoons unless (like me!) you like "heat" - then play around until you get the taste to your liking. Simmer about 10 minutes. This recipe takes doing a couple of times to work out your personal preference for spices. I like a lot of garlic and a good amount of heat, so I use more garlic than listed and nearly a tablespoon of peppers - I like my sauce to stand up to my meatballs! For a "plain" sauce for pasta, I tone down the heat and add oregano or basil. This is a good "basic" sauce that you can play and change to suit the meal.
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