Tomato pasta sauce what have I done wrong

[soboredtonight]

I've just tried to make a pasta sauce.

I roasted a few types of baby tomatoes all good quality.
Added wine, oxo, salt pepper, garlic, herbs big glass of red wine to a pan and hand blended it.

It's tastes shit. I simmered it for an hour.

What am I doing wrong.

I found during lockdown when I didn't have much in that it's possible to make an acceptable tomato sauce by briefly cooking chopped garlic in a good glug of olive oil, adding tomatoes (fresh and/or tinned), herbs and seasoning and then reducing well - lots of stirring.
It's better with some tomato purée or better yet Bomba paste. Drink the wine rather than putting it in the sauce and bin the oxo. (If you need stock cubes for other recipes, try a different brand that's not full of msg. Knorr veg cubes are ok).

I add milk to my tomato sauce. It balances the tartness of the tomatoes and adds a bit of depth. Just a splash and cook it down.

I make mine with onion, garlic, tinned tomatoes, balsamic vinegar, basil, salt and pepper. Never thought to put an oxo cube in.

Agree with everyone else, bit of sugar should balance out any bitterness.

When you say it tastes shit, what do you actually mean? If it's tasting bitter it might be that you've puréed up all the tomato seeds and that would cause it to taste bitter. Not sure if it could be saved if that's the case but next time I wouldn't use a blender, just cook it down.

Could you convert to a sort of bolognese or chilli con carne?

I make mine with minced onions, celery and carrot....fry and add tomatoes & stock ect.

Yes to tomato puree and sugar!

OXO ? No, you need a pinch of sugar.

I use passata rather than tomatoes

The OXO cube, I'd never use one for a tomato sauce.

What made you put the Oxo in? And an hour?

Roast tomatoes + garlic + olive oil - all you needed.

It's supposed to be fresh tasting, not simmered for hours like a ragu.

The oxon wouldn't have helped...
Also a bit of sugar is probably needed. Might be a bit late though cos of the oxo

Oxo, not oxon!

Tomato ketchup (which is sweet) or sugar.

And a can of anchovies.

Too much in there. Also how did you cook it? My base for tomato sauces is as follows:

1. Cook halved fresh tomatoes on a low heat in olive oil, with a bit of salt, covered, for ages.
2. Separately slow fry shallots or onion and garlic. Add red and yellow peppers and also slow fry these. Add fresh pepper to this early on.
3. Combine the two. Blend if want smoother.

No need for sugar I find. I sometimes
bulk out with a decent passata. I sometimes add a sofrito mix when cooking the onions. Sometimes finely chopped courgette. Whatever I’ve got in, basically! Otherwise just the tomatoes, peppers, onion/shallots and garlic. Sometimes I add basil and oregano to the onion when cooking. The basic tomato mix is lovely on pasta, with a little cheese if you can have it. Even without the peppers, just the tomato and alliums.

Super simple and v tasty.

I started by looking at the ingredients in a lovely pasta sauce I had bought as a treat (Natoora, eye wateringly expensive but was a one off!). It was sooo good, and just had olive oil, tomatoes, and salt. I couldn’t quite believe it, and from there I started
trying to recreate it at home, then varying it once I’d cracked that. If I can’t afford really good tomatoes then I use cheaper ones and a good passata.

Don't roast the tomatoes

Don't use wine

Oh yes definitely no oxo in a tomato based sauce

Don’t add wind or oxo! no herbs!

also, it’s not the season for fresh tomatoes, they’ll all be watery and tasteless right now

Fry up a bit of garlic and half a finely chopped onion in a good glut of olive oil. (on low heat) and use tinned tomatoes (NOT chopped, the worst tomatoes go in chopped tins, choose whole peeled toms and just mash/cut them), I use 2 tins for 3-4 people.

also add a small teaspoon of sugar, some salt

simmer for 45 mins with lid off for most of it, so it thickens nicely

Fry onion and garlic then add tomato purée then add tomatoes salt and pepper and a spoon of sugar

Cook on low for an hour

Add pasta water after cooking the pasta

It's the Oxo cube making it taste bad - it will completely overwhelm it.

Remove that plus the herbs and just add a little bit of sugar, dried or fresh chillis and maybe less wine. Also don't hand blend it - the tomatoes taste best just broken up naturally.

It's a very delicate dish and doesn't need much apart from lashings of Parmesan on top, or vegan equivalent.

Don't add wind

I'm not sure that's the effect the OP was looking for...💨

Are you new to cooking? Tomatoes themselves (fresh or frozen even some tinned) are very watery. They cook to near tastelessness initially. Roma tomatoes have more meat, less water which helps slightly. So you need way more than you think and you need to reduce those down significantly.
I used tinned puréed tomatoes and paste in my sauce recipe.

I also use tinned plum tomatoes most of the time and never chopped tinned tomatoes

I’d agree with app that it’s the wrong time of year for using fresh tomatoes I use tinned. Lots of roasted garlic roast it in cloves and you can squeeze it out. Vegan boullion, basil, smoked paprika.

you have to peel tomatoes before you make sauce in case you missed that step.

If you want an extra kick add chilli flakes when softening the onion and garlic at the start