How do you make tomato sauce from scratch without canned or store bought tomato paste and what is the distinction between sauce and puree?

Answer 1

I'm going to let you in on a little secret: anything that you can buy in the store, you can make on your own! This certainly includes tomato sauces. Don't let all those "quick/easy" cooking books and shows fool you; making your own tomato sauce is easy. You don't need no stinkin' cans!

If you want only the tomato sauce:

You'll need:

1 3/4 - 2 pounds tomatoes

large cooking vessel

boiling water (to fill the vessel)

Ice water

Large bowl

1. Blanch the tomatoes

This means to submerge the tomatoes--two or three at a time--in the boiling water. Then take them out and quickly submerge them in the ice water. This will make the skins easy to peel off.

2. Cut them in half and take the seeds out, and then place them in the bowl.

3. Chop them roughly and put them in a pot with a little bit of olive olive with the juice from the bowl.

4. Simmer until desired thickness(anywhere from 15 minutes to an hour). To cheat a little beat, you could add a little flour to thicken it faster.

If you're looking for pasta sauce, saute garlic, onions, and any desired ingredients (carrots, celery, basil what have you) before adding the tomatoes. Do the exact same thing, and season with salt and pepper afterward.

The difference between sauce and puree is that puree is generally just the pureed tomatoes and sauce is usually seasoned.