Honey Free Pomarola Fresh Tomato Sauce

Total time1 hr 5 min

Prep time15 min

Cook time50 min

4.8

(5)

This is Italian cooking at its most honest — ripe plum tomatoes, a handful of aromatics, good olive oil, and fresh basil coming together into something deeply satisfying. The soffritto of onion, carrot, and celery builds a savory backbone before the tomatoes even hit the pot, which is exactly why this sauce tastes like it simmered all day even when you can follow along without any fuss. Passing everything through a food mill at the end gives you that silky, restaurant-quality texture that jarred sauces never quite manage to pull off. There's no sweetener beyond a small pinch of sugar to balance the tomatoes' natural acidity, so anyone avoiding honey or other added sweeteners can use this sauce freely and confidently. It's the kind of recipe that makes you want to keep a batch in the fridge at all times — ready to toss with pasta, spoon over polenta, or use as a base for whatever you're building that night. Simple, clean ingredients and a straightforward process make this one genuinely hard to mess up.

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Ingredients

6 servings

3 lbs ripe plum tomatoes (about 10–12), roughly chopped
4 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
1 medium yellow onion, roughly chopped
1 medium carrot, roughly chopped
1 celery stalk, roughly chopped
3 garlic cloves, smashed and peeled
½ tsp sugar
1 tsp kosher salt, plus more to taste
¼ tsp black pepper
8 fresh basil leaves

Instructions

1
Heat 3 tbsp olive oil in a large heavy-bottomed pot over medium heat until shimmering. Add the onion, carrot, and celery and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened and the onion is translucent, about 8–10 minutes.
2
Add the garlic and cook, stirring, until fragrant, about 1 minute.

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