Roma Tomato Sauce Recipe - Easy Made With Fresh Tomatoes! (2024)

FAQs

Do you have to peel roma tomatoes for sauce? ›

Same goes if you're canning tomatoes for a later time, when they'll probably be turned into a sauce. Though it's completely a matter of preference, for the smoothest, mellowest sauce, you might consider peeling.

Starting with good quality tomatoes and crushing them by hand offers great flavor and texture later on. The combination of butter and oil releases fat-soluble aromatics and gives the sauce a creamy texture. Slowly cooking the sauce in the oven creates rich caramelization without burning.

Roma tomatoes are perfect for this easy homemade fresh tomato sauce. With only 10 ingredients, you can toss it with your favorite pasta shape or even spread it on pizza. Because roma tomatoes have more flesh and less seeds, they are my go-to for making sauce during tomato season.

Yes, you can leave skin on tomatoes when making sauce! Just use a food processor to transform whole tomatoes into sauce. This saves lots of time from having to boil the tomatoes first to loosen the skin enough to peel. We also figure keeping the skins on retains all the vitamins and minerals that the skin contains.

Most tomato sauce recipes are based on canned tomatoes, and canning companies carefully regulate the pH level of their products. So, the need to add sugar to tomato sauce is declining, but there may still be exceptions. It's best to make your sauce without sugar at first, then taste it and add a pinch if necessary.

Add fresh herbs (basil, oregano, rosemary, bay leaf), and let them simmer to give a punch of fresh flavor.

Roast the tomatoes first.

This one simple thing will completely change the dynamic of the sauce. Roasted tomatoes give a robust depth of flavor to an otherwise simple sauce. Heat equals flavor, folks.

The most efficient way to peel tomatoes is to blanch the tomatoes by quickly boiling them in hot water, which helps to loosen the skin from the flesh, and then shock them in an ice bath. The ice bath helps stop the cooking process and cools the tomatoes down so they're easy to handle.

Tomatoes may be frozen raw or cooked, whole, sliced, chopped, or puréed. Tomatoes do not need to be blanched before freezing. Frozen tomatoes are best used in cooked foods such as soups, sauces and stews as they become mushy when they're thawed.

Can you leave the skin on tomatoes when making sauce? ›

Yeah, that's right: NO need to peel those tomatoes! The skins are delicious and nutritious, too! We like to throw in fresh oregano and basil at the end for an extra burst of flavor, and add salt and pepper to taste.

Fresh tomatoes: Try to stick with plum tomatoes, like Roma, San Marzano, and cherry tomatoes. Be sure to peel the tomatoes (and remove the seeds, if you like, but it's not necessary). White sugar: The sugar will balance out the acidity and give the sauce a hint of sweetness.

In a salad or sandwich, you don't need peeled tomatoes. But, if you're making a fresh tomato sauce or stewed tomatoes, the tomatoes should be peeled, cored, and seeded. The result will be a smoother sauce without any seeds, core, or peel in it.

Peeling tomatoes requires a little effort, but when you taste the results in tomato sauces and soups, you'll realize the rewards are well worth it. Removing the peel gives sauces a smoother texture and a sweeter taste.

Italian Tradition

Even a very simple tomato and basil sauce is made with peeled tomatoes, so this product is a staple in Italian pantries.

Cherry tomatoes are delicate enough to be eaten whole, but larger tomato varieties, like beefsteak or Roma tomatoes, have a fibrous core at the top of the tomato that should be removed before using it in a recipe. It won't hurt you, but it has an unpleasant woody texture.