🍅" />

Mary Covello's Quick Sauce

A slow-simmered fresh tomato sauce — Roma tomatoes, sweet onion, and Berio olive oil

Section
Italian
Cook
~2 hours
Start
First thing A.M.

Ingredients

  • 3 cloves garlic, minced or sliced
  • 3 lb fresh Roma tomatoes, sliced thin (leave out a few days to ripen)
  • 2 cans Del Monte original stewed tomatoes, crushed in a food processor
  • 1 large sweet onion, diced or sliced
  • Salt to taste
  • White pepper to taste
  • Fresh basil or fresh parsley
  • Bertolli & Berio extra virgin olive oil
  • Water, to loosen sauce as needed

Original Recipe Card

Mary Covello's Quick Sauce handwritten recipe
Handwritten recipe card — 4/1/2011

Directions

  1. Start first thing in the morning — the sauce cooks about 2 hours.
  2. Heat a generous pour of olive oil in a large heavy pot over medium heat. Add onion and garlic, cook until limp and softened.
  3. Crush the canned stewed tomatoes in a food processor until no large chunks remain. Add to the pot.
  4. Add sliced fresh Roma tomatoes. Stir to combine.
  5. Season with salt and white pepper. Add fresh basil or parsley.
  6. Add a little water to loosen the sauce if needed.
  7. Simmer uncovered on low-medium heat for about 2 hours, stirring occasionally.
  8. The sauce is done when the oil rises to the top.
Mary's note: As the water cooks off the tomatoes, the sauce cooks better. Don't rush it.
Tip: Use white pepper, not black. And let those Roma tomatoes sit out and ripen a few days first — it makes all the difference.