Simple Pasta Tomato Sauce

Ahh, pasta. Standard fuel for college students who are still one step before the instant noodle stage. Why buy bottles of pre-made pasta sauce? You can make your own quick sauce pretty easily, and the best part is that you can customize it to your taste.

For a basic tomato sauce, enough to make 5-6 servings, you will need:

• Three cans of diced tomatoes
• One chopped onion
• Three tablespoons of parmesan
• One finely diced clove of garlic
• Two tablespoons of basil (finely chopped or dried)
• One tablespoon of parsley (finely chopped or dried)
• One tablespoon of olive oil
• Salt and pepper (to taste)

In a large pot, add about a tablespoon of olive oil.

Add your onions and garlic and saute them for a few minutes.

Add about a tablespoon of salt and a tablespoon of pepper.

Now add your three cans of diced tomato, juices and everything.

Mix the tomatoes in with the onion and garlic, and then add the herbs.

Once you have mixed the sauce well, taste it and add more salt or pepper as desired. If you are making meatballs, this is the time to add your meatballs to the sauce. If not, just let the sauce simmer for at least an hour.

Now your sauce is done!

You can serve this sauce over spaghetti, with meatballs, or with a side of Italian sausage ... the possibilities are endless. Make a large batch and then freeze it, defrosting what you need and heating it up in a pot before serving.

Here are a few suggestions on how to change your sauce for different flavours:

• Chop up some green peppers and toss it in the oil in the beginning, roast it up for a bit and then add the tomatoes.
• Add some ground beef in the beginning and let it all brown before adding the tomatoes to make a bolognaise sauce.
• Add a bit more black pepper or cayenne pepper to make it a bit more spicy.
• Add some cilantro and some lemon zest for a tangy sauce.

The opportunities are endless!

As with all the other recipes we put on this site, this is meant to be easy to follow. We are hobby chefs who love to cook, and we are always up for learning new techniques. If you know of anything in this recipe which can be done a different way, whether for increased ease of preparation or better taste, please add a comment below!

Whipped up by Shyamal Addanki