Growing up in Queens, NY, in the 1970’s, I had a diverse group of friends that descended from European ancestry: Italian, Greek, Polish, Russian, Irish, and German.
One of my friends, Anthony DelGreco, was Italian. His parents and grandparents migrated from Italy to the United States and brought with them the culinary knowledge that makes Italian cooking stand out as one of the most popular cuisines in the world.
Anthony carried on the tradition of his ancestors and would make fresh tomato sauce.
One year (many decades ago), Anthony gifted me a jar of his homemade sauce.
Truth be told, I grew up eating Prego and Ragu from the grocery store, which I thought was pretty darn good. So, I was skeptical that anything could top that.
But, when I tasted Anthony’s homemade tomato sauce – Yowzah!!!!
It tasted like a burst of vine-ripened tomatoes that were light, bright, and vibrant; it was a balance of sweet fruitiness, plus lively, tangy acidity.
And, I could almost taste the sunshine, tradition, and love in that jar!
There was NOTHING in the supermarket that could compare to Anthony’s homemade Italian tomato sauce.
When he handed me the jar, he told me the secret to making it taste authentic…
He said, “You need to blanch the tomatoes in hot water. Then peel the skins off and squeeze out the seeds before adding them into the pot.”
It’s been a few decades since then, and I’ve never used the knowledge he shared with me… until this summer.
We got so many tomatoes from my CSA this year – it was a crazy abundant harvest.
I told my husband we have to make tomato sauce otherwise they are going to go bad.
So, we got to work!
I know some people swear by a specific tomato (like Roma) to make sauce, but I needed to use up what we had.
And, that included: Roma Plum tomatoes, slicing tomatoes, and cherry tomatoes. We used them all.
We scored the tomatoes first to make them easier to peel. Then we dropped them into a pot of boiling water for a minute or two, and then pulled them out to chill in an ice bath.
After they cooled, we hand peeled them and cut them into sections so we could squeeze out the excess seeds and liquid.
It may seem like an extra step, but the science has caught up to this ancestral wisdom.
“Tomatoes, according to Ayurveda, are members of the nightshade family, which also includes potatoes, eggplants, peppers, and a poisonous plant called Atropa Belladonna. Alkaloids, which are chemicals that can be toxic to insects and animals, are found in these plants. Some of these alkaloids, particularly those found in tomato seeds and skins, can cause inflammation and irritation in humans.”[1]
It’s nice to have the science, but even if we didn’t have it, I’d still trust ancient culinary wisdom handed down from generation to generation. Just like Anthony’s ancestors did with him (pictured below are Anthony and his Grandma aka Nonna or Nookie).
No science needed… just simple instructions shared from one kitchen to another.
BTW – the homemade tomato sauce we made tasted delicious!
I’ll be doing this every summer with the extra tomatoes we get.
Big thanks to Anthony and his family for bringing ancestral culinary wisdom from Italy to America!
Our sauce tasted sweet, so we didn’t need to add sugar. But, if your sauce is too tangy and tart, 1-2 tbsp. of sugar should be able to fix that.
Or you could do what Anthony’s mom did to make it sweet and also cut down on the acidity – she added a carrot to cook with the sauce.
And, if you get agita (heartburn), from the high acidity in tomato sauce, you can add a small amount of baking soda at the onset of cooking, to reduce that.
Get the recipe below. Enjoy!
- 6 pounds of tomatoes
- ⅓ cup of extra virgin olive oil
- 5 garlic cloves, peeled and minced
- 1 tsp. oregano
- 6 fresh basil leaves
- 1-2 tsp. sea salt
- ½ tsp. baking soda (optional, to reduce acidity)
- 1 tbsp. sugar (optional, to increase sweetness)
- Bring a pot of water to boil.
- Score the tomatoes with a little X at the base (opposite the stem).
- Drop the tomatoes, in batches, into the boiling water for 60 seconds.
- Remove the tomatoes and place into an ice bath.
- When the tomatoes cool, peel them and slice into quarters.
- Remove the stems, excess seeds, and water and discard.
- Dice the tomatoes.
- In a deep frying pan, or soup pot, add oil and bring to medium heat.
- Add garlic and oregano, and cook 1-2 minutes (do NOT burn the garlic).
- Add the diced tomatoes, 1 tsp. of salt, and 5-6 fresh basil leaves.
- Turn the heat to high and bring ingredients to a boil.
- Reduce heat to medium and cover.
- Cook 35-40 minutes.
- Uncover and continue cooking until most of the “water” has evaporated (additional 30-45 minutes or longer depending on how thick you like your sauce).
- Season to taste and add additional salt and aromatics if needed.
- If you like a smoother sauce, puree in a food processor or blender.
[1] https://www.timesnownews.com/health/diet/consuming-tomatoes-with-seeds-might-be-harmful-to-your-health-heres-why-article-105076772
Andrea Beaman is an internationally renowned Holistic Health Coach, Natural Foods Chef, Speaker, Herbalist and best-selling author who helps people feel happier, healthier and in control of their health. She was named one of the top 100 Most Influential Health and Fitness Experts, is the recipient of the Natural Gourmet Institute’s Award for Excellence in Health-Supportive Education and a Health Leadership award from The Institute for Integrative Nutrition. Since 1999, Andrea has been teaching people how to harness their body’s own preventative and healing powers using food, herbal remedies and alternative medicine.
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