I am getting inundated with ripe tomatoes right now and I’m looking at ways to use them. I make a pretty good salsa but I would love to have a good recipe for pasta sauce starting with my fresh tomatoes rather than canned tomatoes. Do any of you awsome cooks out there have a recipe you would be willing to share? In exchange I would be willing to post my salsa recipe that most people seem to like! Thanks.
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I like arrabbiata, and it goes with penne rigate. Crush some tomatoes, and in a bit of oil sautee a few minced garlic cloves and some crushed chili pepper. when the garlic turns color add tomato and salt to taste. A minute before the sauce is ready add minced parsley and olive oil.
Wildscaper, I’m not an awesome cook, but I think what might work for you would be to just scald your 'maters and get the skin off of them, and then either proceed as you normally would with canned fruit, or freeze them for later.
My tomato sauces are not spectacular, but one of my givens is that I’m going to cook it down to the right consistency. All very touchy-feely and vague; I don’t know if I’ve ever had anything come out the same the second time, so I don’t know that I can give recipes so much as ideas!
Hope this helps …
M
I’ve used this recipe and it’s delicious, http://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1015987-classic-marinara-sauce.
If you’re using your own tomatoes score an x at the end, place in boiling water one minute the fish out with slotted spoon and place in ice water bath to remove skins easily.
If you prefer a meat version let me know! It’s just a little more work.
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1 cup chopped onion
1/4 - 1/3 minced garlic
2 lbs tomatoes cored and skinned and seeded
chiffonade of Basil to taste
olive oil
Sweat onion till translucent, add garlic, cook until aromatic, 3-5 mins, add tomatoes, bring to a boil and simmer until thickened, last minute stir in as much basil as you’d like
Puree, and can or throw it in the fridge or freezer
This is the simplest traditional tomato sauce i make in the restaurant,Spice it up, herbs, meat, peppers, eggplant, go nuts 
The main diff between using canned tomatoes and fresh is the seeds and skins on the fresh ones.
If you don’t mind seeds in your sauce then no need to remove, although leaving them in will add some more water which will need to be cooked off (and probably a bit of protein).
If you leave the skins in, they will curl up into a tight roll in the sauce as it cooks. Not that objectionable in a chunky type sauce but they will be visible in a would-be smooth one. Although I suspect leaving them in adds vitamins.
Of course if you have one of those Vigro “processors” or the like, which separates the tomato flesh from the seeds and skins, then removing them is fairly easy. Otherwise for a large batch of sauce it can eat up a lot of time.
Otherwise fresh vs canned tomatoes really doesn’t make that much difference cooking/recipe - wise, IMO.
My favorite long cooking sauce uses fresh tomatoes, onions, garlic, salt, pepper, a few bay leaves, basil and summer savory. Proportions are not fixed although I tend to use a lot of onions and garlic. Saute the onions and garlic first, add tomatoes, cook. I generally add spices to taste in a couple of stages, adjusting it right before the end. Cook until desired consistency is achieved, typically overnight, although can be used at most any stage once the tomatoes have broken down. You can adjust acidity, if needed, with a TINY amount (like fraction of a teaspoon for several gallons of sauce) of baking soda right near the end; don’t overdo it, as some acidity is needed for a good sauce.
All these recipes look awesome! Thanks for the great ideas I’m gonna try and make some really soon. Can You add paste to the sauces to thicken if needed or would this mess with the flavor? All these recipes look great this is so helpful. Thanks to all hopefully more people than just me will benefit from yalls knowledge.
Drew
The seeds do add a bitterness. I like my sauce noticeably more when I get out the food mill and process them. It also makes a difference what kind of tomatoes you use. I like darker earthier flavored varieties made into a sweet sauce. I simmer the sauce with carrots and add sugar to taste, and of course a couple bay leaves.
Call me crazy but I’m a little weird about tomato sauce. I love homegrown tomatoes and I eat tomato sandwiches all august and september. When making sauce a food mill is essential as I really don’t care for chunky tomato sauce. Nor do I care for chunky salsa. I just do not like the texture. We have a Mexican restaraunt in town that makes a really flavorful smooth salsa that I love with Jalapeño and cilantro.
Ryan. I could believe that the seeds might add a bitterness. I just have not noticed it with my tomatoes and my taste buds. But it certainly could be there for others.
If your tomatoes are sweet enough than extra sugar isn’t necessary. Some use sugar to offset the acidity, which is OK if one likes that taste. I usually neutralize the acidity down with baking soda instead, but whatever works. (If one is canning however, it is important to keep the acidity high enough to make for safe storage)
Also for many years I grew Orange Banana tomatoes, a yellow/orange paste type of tomato. Some chef always used them in his award winning sauces. Very sweet, and not bad for eating either. And does make a very interesting sauce.
I sometimes have a problem that my sauces are too sweet, even without added sugar; at least for my tastes.
What type of foodmill do you recommend?
I’m a fan of this recipe, which only involves butter, tomatoes, salt, and an onion. I’ve tried adding things to it (oregano, etc), but they muddied the waters so to speak. I like the original version best.