Homemade Pasta Sauce help..

[malkin]

And if a bit of sauce gets a bit stuck on the bottom of the pan, stir it back in. That's my secret. A little bit of caramelized stuff works the same as a little sugar.

[crazycanuck]

Yum Yum...! I hit the jackpot last week when making some pasta sauce but now need some more info.

I chopped up some tomatoes, added a few herbs n spices, 300ml water & then let it simmer on the stove...I then added some tomato paste & chicken...ooo..mmmm....

So, my question is: How do i thicken the sauce without the tomato paste? Cornstarch???

Ta!
C

[OakLeaf]

... cook it longer. Tomato paste is just tomatoes strained and cooked a long, long time. When I sauce tomatoes for the freezer it usually takes about three hours to reduce the volume by half.

Starting with paste tomatoes helps (lower moisture, Roma type varieties).

Maybe you could do it in a slow cooker with the lid off? I don't know if it's hot enough in those things to stick.

[spokewench]

Yum Yum...! I hit the jackpot last week when making some pasta sauce but now need some more info.

I chopped up some tomatoes, added a few herbs n spices, 300ml water & then let it simmer on the stove...I then added some tomato paste & chicken...ooo..mmmm....

So, my question is: How do i thicken the sauce without the tomato paste? Cornstarch???

ta!
C

[/B]I see nothing wrong with Tomato Paste, but don't add any water, and simmer longer, i.e. let it cook down more with the lid off

[badger]

I think some of you might be horrified, but ketchup has always been a quick fix for too-tart or bland sauce for me. It works as a sweetner and a thickener (all you foodies please don't hate me, I'm not Italian in any way shape or form)