Simple Tomato Sauce

Recipe courtesy Giada De Laurentiis

Show: Everyday ItalianEpisode: Quick Italian Dishes

Rated: 5 stars out of 5Rate itRead users' reviews (81)

RECIPE
COMMENTS & REVIEWS(81)

Cook Time:
1 hr 15 min
Level:
Easy
Yield:
6 cups

Times:

Prep: 15 min
Inactive Prep: --
Cook: 1 hr 15 min
Total:: 1 hr 30 min

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Ingredients

1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 small onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 stalk celery, chopped
1 carrot, chopped
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 (32-ounce) cans crushed tomatoes
4 to 6 basil leaves
2 dried bay leaves
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, optional

Directions

In a large casserole pot, heat oil over medium high heat. Add onion and garlic and saute until soft and translucent, about 2 minutes. Add celery and carrots and season with salt and pepper. Saute until all the vegetables are soft, about 5 minutes. Add tomatoes, basil, and bay leaves and simmer covered on low heat for 1 hour or until thick. Remove bay leaves and check for seasoning. If sauce still tastes acidic, add unsalted butter, 1 tablespoon at a time to round out the flavors.

Add half the tomato sauce into the bowl of a food processor. Process until smooth. Continue with remaining tomato sauce.

If not using all the sauce, allow it to cool completely and pour 1 to 2 cup portions into freezer plastic bags. This will freeze up to 6 months.

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Comments & Reviews

recipe Simple Tomato Sauce
Gigi Torrance, CA 10-18-2009
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The Best Simple Sauce
Rated: 5 stars out of 5

Excellent Taste! Easy, delicious and inexpensive to make.
recipe Simple Tomato Sauce
Stephani Houston, TX 10-10-2009
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The Best I've Ever Tasted
Rated: 5 stars out of 5

Tomato sauces are normally too sharp, too acidic- or worst of all: too sweet- for me, but this one is sublime. I always keep... it on hand in my freezer so I don't have to resort to yucky store-bought sauce in an "emergency". Rich and perfectly balanced, it's even better than good quality restaurant sauce. Superb!Read more
recipe Simple Tomato Sauce
rita houston, TX 09-17-2009
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TASTY!
Rated: 5 stars out of 5

Made this recipe and it is great. In my opinion San Marzano canned tomatoes are best. Nice basic sauce.
recipe Simple Tomato Sauce
deborah mullica hill, NJ 04-29-2009
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SUPER EASY AND TASTY TOO
Rated: 5 stars out of 5

I got this recipe from Giada's cookbook, "Everyday Italian". It is so easy to prepare and tastes wonderful. I lost the book... (probably lent it to someone) and I decided to look here for the recipe. The name of the recipe is fitting and is a great way to teach the kids how to cook without being complicated. I love Giada's recipes. I have been cooking for 40 years and have been told many times how good I am at it. I am always looking for new ideas and Giada has soo many. Recipes like this one are truly gems because they are quick, easy and taste oh, sooo good.Read more
recipe Simple Tomato Sauce
Linda Dallas, TX 03-03-2009
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Orange sauce??
Rated: 5 stars out of 5

For anyone whose sauce turns out orange, it is most likely because you are using the baby carrots that have orange coloring... added. If you use whole carrots you won't have this problem. This is a simple excellent sauce. Goes great with Anne Burrell's Excellent Meatballs!Read more
recipe Simple Tomato Sauce
Adam Springfield, OH 12-11-2008
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Beautiful sauce from a beautiful chef!
Rated: 5 stars out of 5

Everyone who knows me knows that I have a celebrity crush on Giada, but I'm very critical about what I make. This recipe... for tomato sauce is great. As it is, the recipe is a bit oily. I recommend using only enough oil to cover the bottom of your pan. Otherwise, the sauce has a deep flavor that works well wherever you would use tomato sauce. Depending on the brand of tomatoes that you buy, the level of acidity varies. I prefer Hunt's crushed tomatoes, though I have used peeled and seeded tomatoes from my garden as well as tomatoes from other companies. I have had to use a tablespoon or three of butter to cut the acidity, but that's not a problem. Where this recipe really shines is as a platform for variations. I have tripled the amount of basil for a wonderful basil-tomato sauce. Add chile flakes and/or jalapeno chiles before blending and have a spicy tomato sauce. I've made a meat sauce by adding diced Italian sausage or ground beef and turkey. Don't hesitate to make this sauce; just remember to use a bit less oil than the recipe recommends.Read more