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The Mother Sauce

  • Claudia Muñiz
  • May 15, 2017
  • 2 min read

Tomato Sauce

My mother-in-law is a vegetarian. I prefer to say pescetarian since I have seen her eating fish sometimes. Anyway, her diet consist mostly of green stuff and super foods. Today, being mothers' day, I thought it would be a great gift to cook for her the one I believe is the mother of all sauces. Fresh, versatile yet simple and so bold in color... there is no other like the tomato sauce.


I learned this recipe from my mom, so the homage is also for her, the greatest cook I have ever met. She always insisted on making me cook this sauce to perfection as it is the base for so many Cuban dishes like Ropa Vieja, Rabo Encendío, Picadillo a La Habanera and many others that make my mouth water just by thinking about stuffing my face with them.


Here are the ingredients for a perfect Salsa de Tomate:


- 15 plum tomatoes

- 5 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil

- 2 garlic cloves.

- 1-2 tablespoons of sugar (it depends on the acidity of the tomatoes)

- 1 teaspoon of fresh oregano

- salt and pepper to taste


Even though you are seeing a glorious heirloom tomato in this picture, the sauce was made only with plum tomatoes. I just made the mistake of buying tomatoes for the recipe and not thinking about the photo I had to take to wow you, folks. I am sorry. I really am... I mean, we bloggers also make mistakes and that heirloom tomato is so freaking handsome!


Now, back to the recipe, take a pot like the one you use for soup making and fill it up with water. Add a pinch of salt and let the water boil. Then add the tomatoes and partially cover for three minutes, maybe less. Until the tomatoes' skin starts to come off the flesh. Take the tomatoes out of the water and let them cool. Then just peel them, cut them in half, take out the seeds and reserve. Roughly dice the flesh of the tomato, also reserve.


In another pan, put three spoons of olive oil and heat it up on medium/high heat. Peel and slightly smash the garlic, then add it to the pan. Let the garlic perfume the oil. Be careful not to burn them. They should be just beach-tanned-like at the end. Reserve the fried garlic. Add the diced tomato flesh to the pan. Season it with salt, pepper and oregano. Let it get along with the oil for a bit. Meanwhile put in a blender all the tomato stuff you have reserved plus the golden garlic, a pinch of salt and pepper and the remaining olive oil. Now you just have to push that button. Isn't beautiful to see how they get combined by the magic of your super blender? Oh, I love that.


Blender off. Colander on. Sift all the good tomatoey stuff on the pan (low heat). Add sugar and let it simmer for about 30 minutes, lid on. Then take the lid off and let it be for another 5-6 minutes. Voilà, you have delicious tomato sauce for the rest of the week. And if you have a vegetarian mother-in-law as I do, what a happy week it would be.


 
 
 

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