A quick simmer of onion, garlic and tomato makes for a simple and cheerful meal — one that’s also budget-conscious. Sometimes I feel guilt about the amount of last-minute pasta dinners we have (always pasta in the pantry!), but never when I make it with this sauce. It's one of those dishes that fills the house with a wonderful, aromatic anticipation and hints of warm, summer days, regardless of the season.
Recipe: Easy Tomato Sauce
Serves 4-6
Ingredients
2 teaspoons good olive oil
1 medium onion, diced
2-3 garlic cloves, peeled and minced
4 pints cherry tomatoes
2 tbsp fresh, chopped basil
½ teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon salt
fresh ground pepper
Start by heating some good olive oil (about 2 teaspoons) in a large, non-stick skillet; gently over medium heat. (Yes, my picture is showing off a lovely hostess gift — beautiful Italian first-press olive oil!)
Add a finely chopped onion, preferably medium-size though whatever you have handy is fine. You can hand-chop but, as a person who starts to weep just peeling an onion, I love my chopper. For a fine dice, it is far faster to wash this equipment than to chop the onion yourself. (At least, it is for me.)
Grab a few cloves of garlic, 3-4 is a nice amount: flavorful but not overwhelming. You'll want to mince them...
...and that's where a handy-dandy garlic press comes in. As with the onions, I can do this by hand — but why? We're talking efficiency, here! Add the pressed garlic to the chopped onion.
Once the onion and garlic are softened and fragrant, add four pints cherry tomatoes.
Keep the heat on med-med high and, over about 20 minutes, the tomatoes will break down and pop, releasing their juices. I also squash them a bit with my wooden spoon. ( Kind of like popping bubble wrap: addictive and fun — but watch for squirting!)
Once the sauce base is cooked down and merrily simmering, you can add about 4 tablespoons chopped fresh basil (chop as fine or rough as you like). Now, season with about 1 teaspoon salt and fresh ground pepper. In the winter I usually add about 1/ 2 a teaspoon of sugar, just to round off the acidity.
This sauce deserves a good pasta, so spend a little extra and get something that will cook to al dente — soft, with just a bit of bite in the centre. Serve drizzled with a little more of that good olive oil. You can also make a big batch in advance for a great weeknight meal (serves 4 generously) with leftovers for lunch the next day.
Recipe: Easy Tomato Sauce
Serves 4-6
Ingredients
2 teaspoons good olive oil
1 medium onion, diced
2-3 garlic cloves, peeled and minced
4 pints cherry tomatoes
2 tbsp fresh, chopped basil
½ teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon salt
fresh ground pepper
Instructions
- Heat olive oil over medium in a large non stick skillet.
- Add onion and garlic and cook till softened and fragrant.
- Add the tomatoes. Cook on medium to medium-high for about 25 minutes or until the tomato skins have split and released their juice. You can gently pop stubborn hold-outs with a fork.
- Mix in your basil.
- Add the sugar, salt and pepper. Adjust to taste. Simmer 5 more minutes and serve.
Sue Riedl is a Toronto-based food writer with a passion for cheese who writes a column called The Spread for The Globe and Mail. She loves to push stinky cheese on her 4-year-old.
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by Sue Riedl