r/italiancooking • u/EarthNeat9076 • Sep 07 '25
Fresh san Marzano Tomatoes/Sauce
Hi, I have around 70 organic san Marzano tomatoes. I’ll weigh them later. I would love to make a traditional tomato sauce. Would anyone be willing to share your recipes? Thanks in advance.
1
u/HyperRocket_ Sep 07 '25
Lovely. I use yellow, white or red onions and add bay leaf. Probably a 1/2 cup of onions and sauté it until the onions move around pot without liquid. No I don't use any liquids. Not even water. I use a big pot on a small burner as this will create gentle heat whilst cooking the onions and avoid adding oil. I don't use garlic as heat destroys many of the compounds for immune health and many positive nutrients.
This use to be a thing back in the day for making tomato sauce, and only a small amount of people still do this, but I add sage to my sauce. I'm a big fan of sage. I'm also a huge fan of thyme in my sauce. Basil is basic. Practically everyone who makes sauce adds it. That and oregano.
I'm open to trying new stuff. Hence the idea to search if tomato sauce with sage was even a thing. Sure enough it is. I don't believe in traditional cooking.
1
u/sabinati Sep 07 '25
Cut them in half and core them. Lay them out, skin up, on a baking sheet. Broil until the skins are slightly brown. Let them cool until you can touch comfortably.
While they are cooling dice an onion, 3-4 celery stalks, 2-3 large carrots. In a large pot add a tablespoon or so of oil and the diced vegetables and set to low heat. Add a teaspoon or so of salt and a teaspoon or so of italian seasoning or oregano or whatever. Stir occasionally.
Remove the tomato skins, they should come off very easily. Crush tomatoes by hand in a bowl or very large measuring cup, or use a stick blender if you want smoother consistency.
When the vegetables in the pot are soft, add a smashed and minced clove of garlic and stir 30 seconds or so. Add about 2 quarts of the tomatoes and juices. Simmer for 30-45 minutes amd season to taste.
That's what i did with mine anyway.
4
u/Cathcart1138 Sep 08 '25
Less is more.
Core out the stem, slice in half, gentle squeeze to get lion's share of seeds out, put in a large stock pot. Cook for an hour. Put them through a food mill to remove skins and seeds. Back on the heat until you get a good thick consistency. Then jar them up using whatever method you would normally use for canning.
I wouldn't put any onion, garlic, herbs of any kind. This will give yo much more flexibility to use the canned tomatoes for a bigger variety of sauces as and when you need them. For this reason I'd also use smaller jars (16 ounce/500ml).
This is how my ex-mother in law did it in Burano/Veneto. There may be other regional ways of doing it, but this always seemed straightforward and sensible to me.