Hand-Crushed Pomodoro Sauce Recipe
Balance of texture and sweet, slightly acidic tomatoes. This sauce is a staple base for all your Italian food dreams!
How to Make the Best Hand-Crushed Pomodoro Sauce
A proper Italian pomodoro sauce is a thing of beauty in its simplicity. This hand-crushed pomodoro sauce celebrates that philosophy by starting with a ritual of hand-crushing San Marzano tomatoes, which creates the perfect balance of texture and slight acidity. The result is a sauce that tastes like it’s been simmering in a Tuscan kitchen for hours, but comes together in about 75 minutes.
The magic happens in the layering of flavors. Sweet caramelized onions provide a natural sweetness, aromatic garlic and fresh basil add depth, and a splash of white wine brings brightness. The carrots add subtle sweetness and body, and are removed before serving, leaving behind their essence. This is a staple sauce that deserves to anchor all your Italian food dreams—whether you’re serving it over fresh pasta, using it as a base for lasagna, or dunking crusty bread straight into the pot.
Once you master this foundational sauce, you’ll find yourself making it again and again. It’s the kind of recipe that improves with practice and patience, rewarding you with restaurant-quality results that taste like they came from a slow-simmered, carefully-tended pot of liquid gold.
Hand-Crushed Pomodoro Sauce
Balance of texture and sweet, slightly acidic tomatoes. This sauce is a staple base for all your Italian food dreams!
Ingredients
Main
Instructions
Preparation & Cooking
- In a separate bowl, hand squeeze each tomato breaking it apart. Run your fingers through to ensure tomatoes have been broken into smaller pieces. Set aside.
- In a heavy-bottom sauce pan, heat olive oil over medium high heat. Sauté onions until they begin to sweat, about 5 minutes.
- Add garlic and carrots, sauté an additional 3 minutes.
- Deglaze the pan with white wine and cook 1 minute longer. Add tomatoes, basil, salt and pepper. Stir to combine.
- Bring to a boil over medium high heat, stirring frequently. Once sauce comes to a boil, reduce heat to low and simmer for 45 minutes until sauce has thickened.
- Remove carrots, let cool and store.
Notes
- The hand-crushing of tomatoes is key to achieving the perfect texture and rustic feel of this classic Italian sauce.
- Use quality San Marzano tomatoes for the best flavor.
- This sauce can be made in advance and freezes well for up to 3 months.