Short-Cooked Tomato Sauce (aka My Everyday Tomato Sauce)

Short-Cooked Tomato Sauce is known in Italy as salsa di pomodoro and in Tuscany as pomarola. In my kitchen, it is simply my everyday tomato sauce and it’s a winner, especially when I need sauce now. The idea is to cook the tomatoes just long enough to bring everything into balance—softening the bright, fresh notes while building a gentle sweetness and depth. This usually takes about 30 minutes, depending on the tomatoes. Since canned tomatoes are already cooked during processing, they work especially well here, giving you a rich, well-rounded sauce with very little effort.

Ingredients:

• 400g tinned plum tomatoes
• 1 cup (250ml) water
• 1 Tbsp tomato pate
• 2 garlic cloves, peeled and roughly chopped
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 tsp dried basil
• ½ tsp dried parsley
• ½ tsp dried thyme
• ½ tsp dried cilantro
• ½ tsp salt
• ½ stick (2cm) cinnamon

Directions:

1. Combine all ingredients in a medium sauce pan, breaking up the tomatoes with your hands (alternately you can use an immersion blender to puree them before adding the rest of the ingredients).
2. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, then reduce heat to medium-low and simmer 20-30 minutes just until it thickens, stirring occasionally.
3. Remove the bay leaf and cinnamon stick before serving.