Simple Italian Red Sauce
This authentic and homemade Italian Red Sauce is the perfect gluten-free tomato sauce recipe for any pasta meal on your menu.
Servings: 6 cups
Ingredients
- ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
- 1 medium onion, chopped
- 2 cloves garlic, chopped
- 1 stalk celery, chopped
- 1 carrot, chopped
- 2 28-ounce cans whole tomatoes , *see Gr8 Note
- 6-8 basil leaves
- sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 4 Tablespoons unsalted butter, optional
Instructions
- In a large casserole pot, heat oil over medium-high heat.
- Add onion, garlic, celery and carrot and saute until all vegetables are soft, about 6 minutes.
- While the vegetables are cooking, pour the tomatoes into a bowl and crush with your hands. Discard any hard cores or yellow portions.
- Add the hand crushed tomatoes to the vegetable mixture, then tear the basil leaves into the sauce.
- Bring to a low boil then reduce the heat to low. Cover the pot and simmer for 1 hour or until thick.
- Taste for seasoning, add salt and pepper to your taste.
- If sauce is too acidic, add unsalted butter, 1 Tablespoon at a time, to round out the flavor.
- Using an immersion blender, blend the tomato sauce until smooth. (To blend the sauce, a food processor or blender can also be used blending only ½ of the sauce at a time.)
Notes
Gr8 Note:
- Feel free to use cans of crushed tomatoes (easier!), but please know that the consistency of the sauce may be different.
Gr8 Do-Ahead Tips:
- Sauce can be made up to 3 days ahead of time. It will keep well if refrigerated in a sealed container.
- If not using all the sauce, allow it to cool completely and then pour 1 to 2 cup portions into plastic freezer bags. Freeze for up to 6 months and have fresh homemade sauce whenever you like!
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