Pasta sauces· V · GF

Classic Tomato Sauce

Whole plum tomatoes simmered slowly with butter and a halved onion: a famously simple, silky sauce.

makes 43 cubes, about 7p each

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BatchJoy

batchjoy.com/sauces/classic-tomato-sauce/

Illustration of a bowl of Classic Tomato Sauce

Time: 55 min5 min prep · 50 min cook
Makes: 43 cubes
Cost per cubePer cube: 7p
Calories per cubeCalories: 33 kcal
A serving: 4 cubes
Spice: 1 of 5

You’ll need

Batch size

cubes

4 × 400g tinswhole plum tomatoes
140gunsalted butter
2 (300g)onions, peeled and halved
6gsalt

Allergens: Milk. Check the labels on stock cubes, sauces and pastes, as brands vary.

Use it for

Spaghetti with parmesan for one · 4 cubes; Pizza base topping · 2 cubes; Meatballs or chicken simmered in sauce · 6 cubes

Method

Step 1: Tip the tomatoes and their juice into a wide saucepan and crush them roughly with your hand or a potato masher.
Step 2: Add the butter, the halved onions and the salt.
Step 3: Bring to a simmer, then cook uncovered at a slow, steady simmer for 45 minutes, crushing the tomatoes now and then, until thick and the butter floats free.
Step 4: Lift out the onions (they make a lovely cook's snack). Taste for salt, and blend smooth if you prefer.
Step 5: Cool, pour into 30ml ice-cube trays and freeze.

Nutrition (estimated)
	kcal	protein	carbs	fat	fibre	salt
Per cube	33	0.4g	1.4g	2.7g	0.3g	0.19g
Per 4 cubes	132	1.6g	5.6g	10.8g	1.2g	0.76g

Cook’s notes

Drop straight into a pan from frozen with a splash of water; ready in 5 minutes.
Good tinned plum tomatoes are most of the flavour, so buy the best you can.

Use it for

Spaghetti with parmesan for one · 4 cubes
Pizza base topping · 2 cubes
Meatballs or chicken simmered in sauce · 6 cubes

Freeze, reheat and serve

Freeze: Cool it within two hours, freeze it in 30ml ice-cube trays, then bag and label the cubes. It keeps for 4 months.
Use from frozen: Drop straight into a pan from frozen with a splash of water; ready in 5 minutes. Never refreeze thawed cubes.
A portion: 4 cubes is a serving: about 132 kcal.

Classic Tomato Sauce questions

Can I make it dairy-free?

Use olive oil instead of the butter. The sauce will taste fruitier and a little less silky, but it's still very good.

Can I use chopped tomatoes instead of whole?

You can, though whole plum tomatoes tend to be better quality and cook down into a sweeter, silkier sauce. With chopped tomatoes there's no need to crush them.

Why are the onions only halved?

Halved onions give the sauce a gentle sweetness without any chopped bits, and they're easy to lift out at the end. That keeps the sauce smooth even if you don't blend it.