Fresh Tomato Sauce Recipe
This post may contain affiliate links. Read our disclosure policy.
The ultimate fresh tomato sauce to make from late August until the last of summer’s tomatoes are gone. Luxuriously luscious and incredibly delicious you’ll want to capture the season and bottle this simple sauce to hold you over until next summer. Mangia Bene!
Fresh Tomato Sauce with Pasta
A straight forward tomato sauce recipe from scratch but the devil’s in the details. Reaching for heirlooms from the farmer’s market or better yet your own garden patch makes all the difference in the world. No peeling, no blanching required! This is not a recipe to make with those half green watery store bought tomatoes ripened on a truck on the freeway nor with tomato paste. You really want the best of the best fresh tomatoes the season has to offer.
The Tomatoes for Sauce
There are many varieties of homegrown tomatoes that will yield a fantastic sauce, yes even cherry tomatoes are fabulous here. Have you tried making Sungold tomato sauce?! Out of this world! The only tomato I purposely stay away from when it comes to sauces are grape tomatoes. They have tough skins and no juice to speak of, I will dare be frank here and call it what it is: disappointment!
I have never met an heirloom tomato I didn’t like, if you are growing the San Marzano variety you will love using them here. Feel free to mix up different varieties or go by color: reds, yellows, greens to make a variety of sauces. The flavor profile will vary slightly and you might find a favorite variety you’d like to grow just for making fresh sauce. If your zone permits growing the Pineapple Heirloom Tomato I highly recommend it for this summer sauce, it is quite exquisite and not something you’ll ever find on a grocery story shelf.
Ingredient Notes + Useful Tips
- Onion – This is the first layer and base flavor that your sauce is built on. Take your time and sautee the onions until fully translucent and it starts to take on an amber color. This process concentrates the natural sugars and gives the sauce its depth of flavor.
- Garlic – Mince it well and only cook it until fragrant, 30 seconds or so is all it takes to tame it. Don’t let it burn at all as that will make your sauce bitter. Worth noting to not use any garlic cloves with a green sprout, this means the garlic is old, pungently bitter and should be planted in the ground at this point.
- Bay – One bay leaf will compliment the sauce with its peppery flavor without overpowering the delicate flavor profile.
- On Storage – Store your sauce separate from the pasta. It keeps well in the fridge for up to a week and reheats beautifully in a skillet on the stove top. Give it a whisk to emulsify it again during reheating. For longer term you could freeze individual portions or make a double batch for canning in which case make sure to follow all safety guidelines for properly preserving tomato products.
Roasted Cherry Tomatoes
To add more flavor to the meal and balance out the silkiness of the sauce with chunky texture you’ll want to top your pasta with a spoonful of divine roasted cherry tomatoes. You let them go in the oven until fully collapsed with caramelized edges. They get infused with the most fabulous flavor from garlic, rosemary and thyme while you work on the fresh sauce. Keep the garlic in its paper to prevent burning it and only expose the bulb by slicing off the ends. You’ll end up with a nice buttery roasted garlic you can spread on toast later.
Choosing the Pasta
For a delicate sauce such as this silky fresh tomato sauce you’ll want to reach for thin ribbons of noodles like Tagliatelle or Fettuccine. If you make your own pasta even better, this is exactly how you want to be using it. Don’t use anything chunky with ridges, save those for thick sauces like the lentil Bolognese. Think smooth and dainty noodles to swim in the silkiness of the sauces.
Saucing the Noodles
Add your cooked noodles back into the sauce pot and toss them with 3/4 of the pureed sauce. Cover with a lid and allow them to sit for 3 minutes and absorb some of that sauce (off of the heat). Give them a gentle toss again and add more of the reserved sauce at this point before plating and serving with a spoonful of the roasted tomatoes on top.
Favorite Italian Recipes
- Pasta Primavera
- Potato Pasta
- White Bean Roasted Tomato Pasta
- Authentic Arrabiata
- Pomodoro Sauce
- Capellini Pomodoro
- Bruschetta Pasta Salad
- Cannellini Bean Soup
- Italian Couscous
- Amazing Dairy Free Alfredo Sauce
- Pizza Bread Focaccia
- Neopolitan Pizza Dough.
how to make fresh tomato sauce
Fresh Tomato Sauce
Ingredients
- 2 lb fresh garden tomatoes (heirlooms are best)
- 1 small yellow onion diced
- 2 garlic cloves minced
- 1/2 tsp red chili flakes
- 1 bay leaf
- 3/4 tsp sea salt
- 4 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 1/3 cup basil for garnish (chiffonade + a couple baby leaves is nice)
- 1.5 lb cherry tomatoes mixed colors
- 5 garlic cloves (ends sliced off to expose the flesh)
- 10 sprigs thyme
- 1 sprig rosemary
- 2 Tbsp olive oil
- 12 oz tagliatelle (but there's enough sauce for 1 lb pasta)
- Heavy pinch of fine sea salt
- Vegan feta crumbles for serving optional
Instructions
- Roast the Cherry Tomatoes. Preheat oven to 450”F. In a medium size high-sided roasting dish toss together the cherry tomatoes with the garlic, herbs and olive oil. Roast for 25 to 30 minutes giving them a toss half way through. You’ll want to roast them until the tomatoes collapse and release their juices and a little reduction occurs. Keep a close eye on them towards the end and cook longer if desired to concentrate the natural sugars but take good care not to let the garlic burn. (Remove the woodsy herbs before serving and reserve the roasted garlic to spread on toast or add to a soup later).1.5 lb cherry tomatoes, 5 garlic cloves, 10 sprigs thyme, 1 sprig rosemary, 2 Tbsp olive oil
Make the Sauce
- Rinse and slice the tomatoes into wedges. Discard any tough core and green leaf ends if needed.2 lb fresh garden tomatoes
- Preheat a medium heavy bottom soup pot over medium heat. Add a drizzle of olive oil and sauté the onion with a pinch of sea salt until softened and becomes to get an amber color all over, a good 10 minutes or so. Stir in the chili flakes and minced garlic and cook until the garlic is fragrant.1 small yellow onion, 1/2 tsp red chili flakes, 2 garlic cloves
- Add the sliced tomatoes to the pot with the onions, the bay leaf and sea salt. Give everything a stir and bring to a simmer. Cover partially with the lid and cook on medium low heat for about 25 minutes until the tomatoes have fully collapsed and releases all their juices. Cook down the sauce for a few minutes to concentrate the natural sugars. Remove from heat and discard bay leaf.2 lb fresh garden tomatoes, 3/4 tsp sea salt, 1 bay leaf
- Transfer the sauce to your Vitamix blender (or another powerful blender) using a ladle pour in the olive oil and process on the hot liquid setting until silky smooth. Taste and adjust seasonings with more sea salt if needed.4 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- Meanwhile boil the tagliatelle in plenty of salted water according to package directions. Drain and transfer to the pot you cooked the tomatoes in. Pour 3/4 of the sauce over the noodles and toss to coat well. Cover with the lid and let the pasta sit and absorb the sauce for 3 minutes. Toss again and at this point add more sauce as desired.12 oz tagliatelle, Heavy pinch of fine sea salt
- Divide the pasta between 4 bowls and serve with a spoonful of the roasted tomatoes on top. Sprinkle with red chili flakes, with the basil and some vegan feta crumbles on top.1/3 cup basil for garnish, Vegan feta crumbles for serving
Video
Notes
- On Storage - Store your sauce separate from the pasta. It keeps well in the fridge for up to a week and reheats beautifully in a skillet on the stove top. Give it a whisk to emulsify it again during reheating. For longer term you could freeze individual portions or make a double batch for canning in which case make sure to follow all safety guidelines for properly preserving tomato products.
- Saucing the Noodles - Add your cooked noodles back into the sauce pot and toss them with 3/4 of the pureed sauce. Cover with a lid and allow them to sit for 3 minutes and absorb some of that sauce (off of the heat). Give them a gentle toss again and add more of the reserved sauce at this point before plating and serving with the roasted tomatoes on top.
Best sauce I ever made! Our neighbor gifted us a huge box of garden tomatoes, nothing special like heirlooms but I used them all to make this sauce and it’s absolutely amazing, everyone loves it and we can’t wait for more. Thank you for such an easy and fantastic recipe!