Mother Sauce
“Mother Sauce” is the purest base sauce that lets simple flavors of fresh produce shine bright. It gets it sweetness not from adding sugar or a carrot, as many sauce recipes do, but rather by using a variety of tomatoes and removing the seeds, which add bitterness. It is an extremely gentle and delicate flavor profile and delightful on homemade pasta and lasagna. Because it is considered a base sauce its flavor can be enhanced and embellished with wine and/or fresh herbs.
Gathering and Prepping Tomatoes
I start by gathering an assortment of three types of tomatoes – small, medium and large.
For small: I use a carton of either cherry or grape tomatoes;
For medium: I use either San Marzano tomatoes (medium-sized oblong shaped tomatoes) or tomatoes on the vine.
For large: I typically use beefsteak or heirloom tomatoes.
Bottom line: I make my selection of tomatoes for this sauce based on what looks the ripest and reddest in the grocery store or farmer’s market. Variety and ripeness is most important.
Once washed, the goal is to deseed the tomatoes and cut them into smaller, consistently sized pieces. For this process, you will need a sharp knife and cutting board, a bowl for the seeds and discard pieces and a colander for the cleaned and prepped tomatoes.
For medium or oblong tomatoes: (Such as San Marzano or vine ripened tomatoes) :
cut them into quarters and remove the seeds into the discard bin and put the cleaned tomatoes into the colander.
For larger, round tomatoes: (Such as Beefsteak or Heirloom tomatoes)
Fill a large pot 3/4 full and boil the water. Submerge the tomatoes for about one minute.
Remove the tomatoes carefully using a slotted spoon and place them on a cutting board to cool. You will see the skin of the tomato visably wrinkled and starting to separate from the tomato.
Peel the skin off the tomato and then cut in 1/8ths, removing the stem and any tough parts of the internal membrane, and removing the seeds with your thumb into the discard bowl. Place the cleaned tomatoes into the colander.
With all of the tomatoes now deseeded and cut, rinse them in the colander to remove and seeds that remained.
Cooking Process
I use about 3-4 garlic cloves and crush them with the side of knife to release the oils but keep the clove whole. As you will be pureeing the sauce, you don’t have to take the time to mince the garlic.
Coat the bottom of a pot with about 2 TBSP of olive oil and heat it up over medium heat. Add the garlic cloves until fragrant. Add the entire bounty of tomatoes and 1 tsp of salt. Let the tomatoes cook for about an hour and half. During the cooking process the tomatoes will “melt” into very soft and liquid version of themselves. It will look like consistency of store bought salsa at this point.
From here, I take an immersion blender ( you can definitely use a blender or food processor depending on how smooth you like your sauce) and puree the sauce to a smoother consistency. The sauce is very creamy and lightens up to almost a vodka sauce color.
From here, you can cool it and put it in an airtight container to store in the refrigerator or freezer. Or you can add use it immediately. This is the point in which I like to taste the sauce. Sometimes I add 1/4 – 1/2 tsp more of salt and some fresh ground pepper.
If you wanted to add more complexity to the sauce you can simmer it again with some red wine, some minced fresh basil or oregano.
This is my favorite sauce to use for lasagna, given it’s fresh and mild flavors. It complements rather than competes with the many flavors of the dish.
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Mother Sauce
- Total Time: 2.5 hours
- Yield: 10 servings 1x
Description
A bright and creamy tomato sauce that celebrates simple, fresh ingredients. I love using it in lasagna or with fresh pasta and grated Parmesan.
Ingredients
- 2 TBSP olive oil
- 3–4 cloves garlic – crushed
- 30 ounces of a variety of chopped deseeded tomatoes
- 1 tsp of sea salt (additional salt to taste)
- Fresh ground pepper
Instructions
-
Prepare the tomatoes by deseeding and cutting into consistent pieces (refer to the blog description and photos for details on tomato prep). Set aside.
-
Crush 3-4 garlic cloves with the side of knife to release the oils but keep the clove whole. As you will be pureeing the sauce, you don’t have to take the time to mince the garlic.
-
Coat the bottom of a pot with about 2 TBSP of olive oil and heat it up over medium heat. Add the garlic cloves until fragrant.
-
Add the entire bounty of tomatoes and 1 tsp of salt. Let the tomatoes cook for about an hour and half. During the cooking process the tomatoes will “melt” into very soft and liquid version of themselves. It will look like consistency of store bought salsa at this point.
-
Using an immersion blender ( you can definitely use a blender or food processor depending on how smooth you like your sauce) puree the sauce to a smoother consistency. The sauce is very creamy and lightens up to almost a vodka sauce color.
You can cool it and put it in an airtight container to store in the refrigerator or freezer. Or you can add use it immediately. This is the point in which I like to taste the sauce. Sometimes I add 1/4 – 1/2 tsp more of salt and some fresh ground pepper.
If you wanted to add more complexity to the sauce, you can simmer it again with 1/4 – 1/2 cup of a dry red wine, some minced fresh basil or oregano.
This is my favorite sauce to use for lasagna, given it’s fresh and mild flavors. It complements rather than competes with the many flavors of the dish.
Notes
Notes go here, if any.
- Prep Time: 30 minutes
- Cook Time: 2 hours