Best recipe for tomato pasta sauce

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I buy pasta sauce far too often and want to start cooking it from scratch for both health and budget reasons. Have tried a couple of recipes but neither were great- please share your favourite tomato pasta sauce recipes.

Slow cook. I roast tomatoes slowly with garlic, oregano, olive oil, red wine vinegar, salt, pepper, sugar. Then add the roasted tomatoes to good passata or tinned plum tomatoes and simmer that down for as long as you can. Blend or mash with fork depending on preferred consistency.

I soften an onion in some olive oil and butter, add some garlic and chilli (optional) then add some chorizo (optional) and then red wine. I turned the heat up high and reduce the wine then return to low/medium heat, add can of chopped tomatoes, chicken stock pot and a little bit of boiling water then let it simmer for 15 minutes

Cook onion and garlic, add herbs and red pepper, add two tins of tomatoes or Passata. I usually will also add frozen spinach and maybe grated carrot.
if you like your sauce creamy then add a tub of mascarpone (value cream cheese works too)
blend it to the consistency you like. It freezes really well too!

The one my kids love is very basic!

garlic in olive oil - a little onion tin of tomato - mixed herbs and half a teaspoon of sugar. Sometimes I crumble a quarter of a low salt stock cube.

These all sound delicious - love the additions chorizo / spinach / peppers

Onions, celery, garlic and carrot minced in food processor.

Fry in olive oil, add a bit tomato puree and add whatever you want like peppers... top up with veggie stock and tinned tomatoes or passata, season to taste.

this recipe is really simple and tasty. I usually make a big pan with a couple of tins of tomatoes and freeze the extra.

Olive oil
garlic
2 tins of chopped tomatoes
salt and pepper
a pinch of sugar

cook until the tomatoes break down

Fry chopped onion, celery and carrot. Add garlic, salt and pepper.
Add carton of passata or tinned tomatoes (,cherry tomatoes are good). Add same volume of stock.
Add herbs and half a teaspoon of sugar.
Reduce by half then blend smooth.
Don't blend if you like texture.
Easy to vary with peppers, chilli etc. Makes a decent pizza topping too.

Fry onion and garlic in olive oil and butter until onions go soft.
Add tomato puree, red wine, chicken stock pot/cube, generous amount of oregano and half a teaspoon of sugar.

Reduce the wine then add a tin of tomatoes.

What you need is olive oil, tomatoes and salt to make a good tomato sauce. Anything else is a bonus.

cooking it from scratch may be healthier but it might not be cheaper once you have factored in that most really good tomato sauces need long slow cooking.

The key is also really good quality tomatoes tinned or fresh.

the recipe after that doesn't matter too much as long as there is a little sugar and salt in there.

my favourite 'quick' tomato sauce is halved cherry tomatoes, olive oil, Schwartz spicy Italian herb and spice mix in a roasting tin. In the oven on high for 15 mins, take out squish the tomatoes with a fork and add to pasta.

Great thread going to play around with these recipes

Fry onion and garlic, add chopped celery and carrots, add chopped courgette and mixed bell peppers, add a blob of tomato puree and cook, add 3-4 tins of chopped tomato and a large jar of passata, add a little water if seems too thick, cook on low medium heat for an hour or so, add salt, pepper, paprika, and herbs (dried or fresh), blitz until smooth, portion up and freeze :)

I make the tinned tomato and onion version too. In August though, you can but whole boxes of tomatoes very cheaply, so sometimes I do that. Freeze in quantity!

My basic tomato sauce base:

Fresh tomatoes - pour over boiling water and leave for 20 mins, then peel

Olive oil
Garlic - fry very briefly
Chuck in peeled but uncut tomatoes, salt, pepper, tiny bit sugar, lots fresh oregano.

Simmer for at least 30 mins
Add about 1/4 tsp bicarbonate of soda
Blend

I usually make a big batch and freeze it for convenience meals.

Marcella Hazan's tomato sauce is the absolute best, easiest sauce you will ever make. I've been using it for decades and you can add anything to it. Google it.

Do you mean any tomato based pasta sauce, or a very basic tomato pasta sauce?

I often make Sicilian sardine pasta using the cheapest, tinned sardines in a tomato sauce as a base. The recipe sounds odd, but is a delicious mix of sweet and salty using fennel and sultanas. I don't both with the saffron though.

I also love puttanesca

This is my favourite but you can leave things out you don't have and replace with others.

Then I add whatever else I have or a mixture eg mushrooms, peppers, bacon, chicken, chorizo, tuna, prawns etc etc

A also use it watered down for a tomatoey risotto

Warm chopped garlic in a tablespoon of olive oil. Then add chopped tomatoes, tomato purée, a glue of red wine and some fresh thyme or oregano. Season and simmer gently for 40 mins.

2 tins of good quality tinned tomatoes, half an onion (unchopped) and a dollop of good butter. Simmer gently for 45 mins. So simple but delicious!

oil, garlic, tin of tomatoes, salt, pepper, sugar

You need red wine.

@BarryKentPoet do you remove the whole half onion at the end, or does it cook down to mush? Or do you blend it at the end? I'm fascinated by this idea!

You could do either, I often take it out but I have also chopped it up & put it back in!