tomato sauce.

Simple tomato sauce.

Ingredients:

1250g canned San Marzano tomatoes, or during summer, use fresh plum tomatoes, or use a mix of tomatoes, grape, cherry, heirloom, etc.
1 large white/yellow onion, chopped, very fine, or grated.
4 cloves garlic, chopped fine.
1 bunch basil, with stems.
1 pepperoncino, chopped fine, or left whole.
200mL extra-virgin olive oil. (The higher quality the better.)
pinch sugar.
kosher salt.

Equipment:

Execution:

Heat a dutch oven over medium-low heat, add olive oil. Once shimmering add the onion and garlic.
Cook the onions and the garlic without until they have lost their water content and begin frying, you will be able to tell by the noise and lack of steam, cook without colour, meaning not to brown the onions, but instead to maintain the slightly sharp, sweet, juicy, aromatic flavours of the alliums, which will compliment your end result greatly, this is the base of the sauce, cooking this properly is essential. Cooking your soffrito too little and your sauce is bland, cooking too much (browning) and the flavour of your tomatoes are overpowered.
Add the pepperoncino.
Add the tomatoes, and bring to a gentle simmer over medium heat, if you’re using fresh tomatoes, cook the tomatoes until they have broken down and their juices are released.
Continue to gently simmer the tomatoes until they have lost their raw, acidic flavour and their natural sweetness starts to come through.
Make a cartouche and cover the tomatoes.
Cover with a lid and place in the oven for 4 hours.
Once removed from the oven, add the basil and let steep.
Once the sauce has reached room temperature, remove the basil.
Store in the fridge for 1 week, freeze for up to 3 months or probably longer.