Sauces are added to give food a texture, color, flavor, and moisture. They are also served with cooked food to enhance their taste. Tomato sauce is undoubtedly the most popular sauce. It is the favorite of people worldwide. So, who does not like tomato ketchup? But wait! Are you also consuming store-bought tomato sauce? If yes, you are putting your health in danger as the store-bought sauce is extremely harmful to the body.
- Store-bought sauces are very low in fiber.
- On the other hand, they contain a lot of salt, sugar, and fat.
- They have very low overall nutritional value.
So what’s the solution?
You might be thinking that if the store-bought tomato sauce is this much harmful, it should be cut down. But the solution is that you should consider preparing tomato sauce at home. It will be healthier and more nutritional than the sauce you buy from the market. It is relatively cheaper, and a small number of tomatoes yield a large quantity of sauce that you can store later. Moreover, it is not much time-consuming. Once it’s done, you can use it for several days.
Recipe of Tomato Sauce
Surprisingly, tomato sauce is very easy to make. Even if you are not an expert cook, you can still prepare this sauce yourself because its preparation does not require expertise. You have to be confident about that. Below we have shared the simplest and quick recipe for tomato sauce. It can take a maximum of 40 minutes. So let’s make it.
Ingredients You Need
Tomatoes: 5 pounds
Garlic Clove: 1
Tomato Paste: 1 tbsp
Bay leaf: 1
Olive Oil: 2 tbsp
Basil sprig: 1
Steps to make tomato sauce
- Horizontally cut all the tomatoes in half. Grate the tomatoes against a box grater and gather all the flesh into a bowl. It should be at least 4 cups. You can remove seeds before grating if you want. Waste the peel(skin).
- Now take a medium-sized saucepan. It should not be too wide. Put in it tomato pulp. Add olive oil and all other ingredients (halved garlic clove, bay leaf, tomato paste, and basil sprig) one by one.
- Let it stay on medium heat until it boils, and then lower the heat.
- Now stir it continuously or occasionally as it thickens. Lessen it by 2 and a half cups. It can take a maximum of 15 minutes.
- After it thickens, taste it.
- You may add salt according to your preference. And all done!
- You can either store it for a maximum of 6 days or freeze it.
Tips:
You can add vinegar while simmering the sauce. It will act as a preservative for your tomato sauce and make it last longer. A small amount of finely chopped onion can also be added along with garlic to enhance the flavor. To get rid of the tangy taste of tomatoes, add sugar to the pulp while boiling. But do not add too much sugar if you want to keep your sauce healthy.
Also read: protein shake before or after a workout