Anyone got a recipe for seriously luscious tomato sauce?

[Jux]

Dd has vege friends coming, and I've done lots of the usual vege stuff for them before. DD has asked for pasta&tom sauce, and I would like to do a really special one.

IMVHO you just need to give it lots and lots of time.
saute a finely chopped onion for ages longer than you think ought to be reasonable until very soft and sweet. Add garlic, then chopped tomatoes shortly after, watching that the garlic doesn't catch. Salt, pepper, a tiny bit of sugar (1/2tsp to two cans) to counter any acidity in the tomatoes. simmer long and slow. When ready to serve add chopped basil and a bit of extra olive oil .

I know it sounds really boring but

Thanks, I'm happy with the long and slow, but the recipes I saw were all much quicker than I expected, maybe half an hour (that's not long and slow to me!).

I am getting fresh toms in large quantity in a minute and thought if I started it today, and maybe fried/sauteed the basil along with the onions and garlic it might help.

I was considering a tiny bit of chili...

Is there no 'magic' ingredient that makes it stand out, like putting chocolate in bolognese?

There is... but it probably depends how old your DD is. Vodka brings out the flavour of the tomatoes, and you cook off the alcohol. A bit of cream to finish off.

Here's a BBC version www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/pennealpomodoroevodk_10819 but there are lots if you Google.

If they're too young for vodka, this is really really good too. (Sorry about the inappropriate themes with my pasta offerings here!)

www.google.com.au/amp/s/amp.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/wordofmouth/2014/sep/25/how-to-cook-perfect-pasta-puttanesca-recipe

We're veggie and make this a lot, without the anchovies of course. It's quick and easy and very tasty. Tastes like a restaurant dish.

I always blend loads of roasted veggies and use that as a base for mine, it seems to give it a nice flavour.

A splash of balsamic once the onions are cooked. Let it cook off before adding the toms. Yum yum

Start it off with chopped onion, garlic, celery and carrot, sweated in butter as long as you dare to bring out the sweetness. Personally I stick with chopped tomatoes because it takes a huge number of fresh ones to get the same volume. Using the ones that already have basil added it an easy way to add another dimension.

I've never tried vodka (sounds interesting) but a glug of red wine definitely adds depth.

The main thing is definitely to cook it long and slow.

A pinch or two of smoked paprika lifts tomato sauce

There is an amazing fennel one somewhere, will have a look

Pizza Sauce recipe
This pizza sauce is delicious and thick! It's the perfect sauce for your pizza, calzones, bread sticks or meatball sub! Make a big batch and freeze for later.
Author: Aubrey
Recipe type: Main
Cuisine: Italian
Serves: 8
Ingredients
2 T olive oil
1 T butter
½ c onion, chopped
¼ c celery, chopped
1 clove of garlic, chopped
8 oz. tomato sauce
6 oz. tomato paste
2 T grated parmesan cheese
1 t basil, dried
1 t oregano, dried
½ t salt
½ t sugar
¼ t black pepper
1 bay leaf
1 t fennel seed

Instructions
melt butter and heat olive oil in a large pot over med heat
add the onion, celery and garlic and saute until soft
remove to blender and puree until smooth then return back to the pot
add in tomato sauce and tomato paste and stir
add the rest of the ingredients and allow it to simmer on lower heat for 30 to 60 minutes
remove the bay leaf before using on your pizza

This is my go-to recipe whenever I need to make a tomato sauce from scratch - reliable, delicious, and DS eats it without so much as a murmur!

www.cooked.com/uk/Sarah-Raven/Bloomsbury-Publishing-Plc/Sarah-Raven39s-Garden-Cookbook/JulyAugust/Really-rich-tomato-sauce-recipe

Marcella Hazan's incredibly simple sauce with just onion & butter is AMAZING - very rich & deep.

www.popsugar.co.uk/food/Easy-Tomato-Sauce-Recipe-43038911

Was just coming in to recommend Marcella Hazan's - it is seriously amazing and so simple!

Yes! Lots of butter! Smitten Kitchen has a version of this recipe too.

Brilliant! Thank you all, I'm going to give wach one a go!

The recipe I found online kind of echoed what TheTirnoftheScrew said, ie long and slow, but used the oven at 150C? So I did that, and after 4 hours last night it had barely reduced. Did it for another couple of hours this morning and then gave up and put it on the hob.

It was nice enough. I'd added some smoked paprika, whole carrot and stick of celery (recipe said take them out before the end), but frankly it was nothing special. Nice, but.... Wish I'd seen the vodka suggestion - they're all 17/18 so quite old enough. I'd have had a nice time sampling er, checking it.

Anyway, I shall try all your suggestions over the next few months! Thanks