Pasta sauce from the jar is filled with ingredients, like sugar, that most people can do without. And let’s face it, pasta sauce from a jar just doesn’t taste as good as the slow cooked homemade version. But most people still buy the jar because making spaghetti sauce can seem like a huge undertaking, especially if the kitchen isn’t your favorite room in the house.
The truth is, making tomato sauce from scratch isn’t that difficult and the best part is that you can jar or freeze your own sauce for easy pasta meals down the road. If you’ve never made pasta sauce, your biggest question may be how to get it smooth. Well, you drop the tomatoes into boiling water for five minutes. This will make it easy to peel off the skins after the tomatoes cool.
Your next question is probably, “So what kind of tomatoes should I use to make Italian sauce from scratch?” We’ve outlined the top 5 tomatoes to use for your next pasta sauce here:
1. Roma
This plum tomato is fleshy and meaty enough to give you the substance you need for your sauce. They are oval shaped and a favorite among Italian chefs.
2. San Marzano
These tomatoes originated in the mother country and are a deep red color. Their flavor comes out when they’re cooked so this variety makes a very flavorful pasta sauce made from scratch.
3. Viva Italia
This variety of tomato is also meaty like the Roma but has a tinge of sweetness to it. This is the perfect tomato to use for a sweet sauce low on sugar.
4. Amish Paste
This variety originated in the United States and is a juicy tomato to use for your next pasta sauce. It also makes for a great slicing tomato to complement the salad at the end of the meal.
5. Super Italian Paste
Having originated in Italy, the Super Italian Paste is a tomato full of flavor. The color is reddish-orange and the flesh is meaty. This flavorful variety is perfect for homemade tomato sauce from scratch.
Finding a recipe to follow using any of these tomato varieties is easy. Simply pick a tomato and search for recipes specific to that plant. Gather your ingredients and start the adventure. Once you go homemade, you’ll shun the jar, we promise.
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