Tomato sauce is the heart of Italian cuisine, simple at a first glance, yet ingenious and an integral part of everyone’s favorite dish.

Tomato sauce is associated with summer, sun, light and simple dishes.

The recipe of the sauce as an independent dish was first mentioned in 1778 in a culinary book. A year later, the great Italian chef Antonio Nebia uses the sauce in pasta and pizza for the first time.

In 1839, the Italian writer and public figure Pellegrino Artuzi published a book in the Neapolitan dialect describing a modern recipe of a tomato sauce, thus making the sauce the star of Neapolitan cuisine.

Tomato sauce consists of just several ingredients available to everyone, though the secret is sun-ripened vegetables and cooking technology.

To prepare the sauce you will need ripe tomatoes, preferably San-Marzano variety, which is characterized by a sweet, less sour taste. In our case perhaps we can choose pink or Kharisgula tomatoes as it will give a dish an approximate flavor.

Pour 1 kg   boiling water over tomatoes and let stand for 1 minute. Transfer to a bowl filled with cold water, peel off the skin, and remove seeds. Cut into large pieces.

Simmer on low heat a saucepan with 50 ml of olive oil and chopped vegetables (1 onion, 1 small carrot, 2 cloves of garlic), cook until onion becomes transparent, add 10-15 pieces of sweet basil leaves, chopped tomatoes, mix with 10 g sugar and 20 g salt. Leave on low heat for 20 minutes. After some time, check whether the sauce has thickened, stain the ready mass on a fine strainer, use as intended.