Easy Homemade Pasta Sauce

There is nothing as comforting as a homemade pasta sauce. This tomato sauce is hearty, but still quick and easy. It goes totally against convention and uses pretty much only pantry ingredients with just some fresh onions and garlic. But, guaranteed, it will become your favourite spaghetti sauce!

Pasta is the perfect comfort food. A rich hearty sauce that hugs silky noodles and brings all the flavours that an Italian grandma would be proud of. This one is as basic as it gets. No red wine, totally vegan (unless you add aggressive amounts of parmesan on top!) and as budget-friendly as it gets. This is a freezer filling recipe, not a canning recipe. Make a big batch on a Sunday night and use it all week, or keep it for those nights when you just can't be bothered to make dinner!

Homemade Pasta Sauce
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Ingredients needed

• olive oil
• red onion
• fresh garlic
• dried spices- garlic granules, ground cinnamon, crushed chilli flakes
• dried herbs- oregano, basil, thyme
• tomato paste- helps to thicken the sauce and give a richer tomato flavour
• chunked chopped tomatoes- with herbs or without is fine. The tomatoes with herbs don't have enough in them to make much of a difference to the end flavour.
• vegetable stock cube- or chicken stock if you prefer. This adds a rich savouriness to the sauce that you just can't replicate by adding salt alone.

Step by step directions

Step 1 & 2

• Heat the olive oil in a saucepan and add in the chopped onion. Sweat the onions over low heat for about 10 minutes, until the onions are softened. Add in the minced garlic and continue to cook for another 5 minutes until the garlic is soft and fragrant. Season with some sea salt. Be conservative though because we'll be adding stock later which tends to be salty too. 
• Stir in the herbs and spices. Start with the amounts listed in the recipe card below and adjusts according to your personal taste. But please, don't skip the cinnamon. It may sound a little strange but it truly is amazing. It helps to cut the acidity and boost the acidity of the tomatoes. 

Step 3 & 4

• Stir in the tomato paste and mix it well with the onions and garlic. Let this cookout for a few minutes. It helps to add a deeper tomato flavour. But make sure to stir it continuously for those 2 minutes because tomato puree burns very easily.
• Pour the vegetable stock into the pan and bring to a simmer. At this stage, the sauce will be very salty. Have no fear, it isn't ruined. 

Step 5 & 6

• Pour in the tins of tomatoes and bring to a simmer again. Simmer uncovered for about 10 minutes until the sauce has thickened and all the herbs and spices are distributed evenly. 
• Taste the sauce and adjust any of the spices, herbs or seasoning that you feel it needs. Personally, I always end up adding a pinch more cinnamon because I love the warmth that it brings to the sauce.

Variations

This sauce is absolutely perfect (IMO) on its own, but you can add in some extras.

• chicken
• minced beef
• chorizo sausage 

And this pasta sauce can be used to for so much more than just tossing with your spaghetti. Use it as

• pizza sauce,
• as a sauce for lasagna
• dipping for pizza bread

Storage

This recipe is not for canning, or for making with fresh tomatoes. It's best simply frozen in a ziplock bag or airtight container. It can be frozen for up to 6 months. This sauce can be heated right from frozen or to defrost it, simply leave in the fridge overnight. 

Pasta recipes to use this sauce in

• One-pot lasagna
• Margherita pizza
• Italian meatballs in tomato sauce

Tools used

1. saucepan
2. measuring jug

Recipe

Easy Homemade Pasta Sauce

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• Author: Deborah Thompson
• Prep Time: 10
• Cook Time: 20
• Total Time: 30 minutes
• Yield: 8 Servings 1x

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Ingredients

Scale 1x2x3x

• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 red onion, finely diced
• 4 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
• 2 teaspoons garlic granules
• 1 tablespoon oregano
• 1 tablespoon basil
• ¼ teaspoon cinnamon
• ¼ teaspoon chilli flakes
• 2 tablespoons tomato puree
• 250ml vegetable stock made from a stock cube
• 2 x 400ml tins chopped tomatoes

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Instructions

1. Heat the olive oil in a saucepan and add in the chopped onion. Sweat the onions over low heat for about 10 minutes, until the onions are softened. Add in the minced garlic and continue to cook for another 5 minutes until the garlic is soft and fragrant. Season with some sea salt. 
2. Stir in the herbs and spices, then the tomato paste and mix it well with the onions and garlic. Let this cookout for a few minutes. 
3. Pour the vegetable stock into the pan and bring to a simmer. At this stage, the sauce will be very salty. Have no fear, it isn't ruined.
4. Pour in the tins of tomatoes and bring to a simmer again. Simmer uncovered for about 10 minutes until the sauce has thickened and all the herbs and spices are distributed evenly.
5. Taste the sauce and adjust any of the spices, herbs or seasoning that you feel it needs. Personally, I always end up adding a pinch more cinnamon because I love the warmth that it brings to the sauce.

Notes

1. You can use whole peeled plum tomatoes in the tins, but the texture won’t be quite the same. You may find that you need to add some extra water to get the right consistency. 
2. This recipe doesn’t have any sugar in it because the cinnamon cuts the acidity and brings a hint of sweetness and warmth. But, you can certainly add in some sugar if you want to.
3. If you want the sauce to be even thicker, then just continue to simmer until your desired thickness is reached. Just be careful of your seasoning. The longer the sauce is cooked and reduced the saltier it will become. 

• Category: pasta
• Method: Stovetop
• Cuisine: Italian

Keywords: pasta sauce, tomatoes, homemade, budget, Aldi recipe,

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