mom’s classic heirloom tomato spaghetti sauce
This weekend was pretty special to me. Why? Because my mama came to visit.
You see, my mom (and the rest of my crazy/awesome family) lives near Chicago. And I live not near Chicago. So having my family over to visit isn’t just a “hey how you doin'” kind of situation — it’s a “hey this is special, let’s do special things!” kind of situation. And we definitely made the best of it.
Not only did we finally paint over the bright pink/purple walls in my office to a deep blue-green, we made flower arrangements for the dining room table, hosted a cookout, took a trip to IKEA, explored the cities and had ice cream from Sebastian Joe’s for the first time. Twice. (Raspberry chocolate chip, Iloveyouforeverandeveramen).
Oh, and we made spaghetti sauce. Because Mom makes the best in all the land, and I just couldn’t have her go back home without teaching me how to make it — i.e., make it for me while I try to sneak in bites. Some things never change.
There’s nothing fancy about heirloom tomato spaghetti sauce in its most basic state, and I like that about it. You can make it as simple as you want, or do it up and add ingredients like chopped veggies, olives, meat or wine. Yes, I said wine. I’ll wait while you do a little jig in celebration, as I did.
For being the kind of person who, admittedly and ashamedly, tends to buy the can of pasta sauce instead of making it from scratch because I’m too lazy/tired/busy/blah blah blah, this sauce is a constant reminder of why I need to get over myself and just make the sauce at home every time already. My mom does it. And my pasta dishes surely would appreciate it. And while this may be a low-and-slow type recipe wherein patience is a virtue, 90 percent of that time is spent completely hands-free. The pasta sauce does its thing while you do your thing. Or thang, depending on the day/activity/mood. Oh, and it makes a batch big enough for at least three pounds of pasta, depending on how saucy you like it. Oh, and it makes your kitchen smell really, really, ridiculously good, too.
Of course, I like to serve my sauce with a sprinkle of fresh grated cheese on top and crusty bread on the side because carbs. Sprigs of fresh basil or tosses with chopped olives and a salad on the side would do well in the mix, too. Oh, and wine. Let’s not forget the wine.
So whether your mom is coming over for a special visit (or even an everyday visit), or you just feel like eating a really, really, ridiculously good heirloom tomato spaghetti sauce, I suggest you and this recipe get likethis ASAP.
Mom’s Classic Heirloom Tomato Spaghetti Sauce
A Girl Versus Dough original (or Mom Versus Dough original?)
Yields: About 8 cups spaghetti sauce
Ingredients:
8 medium-size heirloom and/or vine-ripened tomatoes (about 2-2 1/2 pounds)
2 6-oz cans tomato paste
3 heaping tablespoons dried oregano
1 1/2 heaping tablespoons dried basil
1 tablespoon minced garlic
3 bay leaves
Salt to taste
Directions:
Core and peel tomatoes with a paring knife. Cut out tough white parts (strain the seeds, if desired) and dice; transfer to a large pot on the stove. Heat tomatoes in pot over medium-low heat 10 to 15 minutes until warm and softened. Use an immersion blender (or transfer to a blender) to puree tomatoes to desired consistency.
Reduce heat to low. Stir in as much tomato paste as needed until sauce is thick. Stir in dried oregano, dried basil, minced garlic, bay leaves and salt to taste. Cover and simmer over low heat 1 to 2 hours, stirring occasionally, until flavors incorporate into the sauce. Add more seasonings to taste as needed. Remove bay leaves. Serve over fresh pasta.
P.S. If you want to add chopped veggies to the mix (like green peppers, onions, mushrooms, etc.), add them with the uncooked diced tomatoes. If you want ground meat, brown the meat in the pot first, drain, then return it to the pot with the uncooked diced tomatoes. If you want to add a glug of wine, stir it in simultaneously with the tomato paste so you can control the thickness of the sauce (you may need to add more than 2 cans tomato paste if you add wine).
Our posts are nearly identical today – your sauce looks delish too! Yay for gardens bursting at the seams with tomatoes. 🙂
Looks absolutely delicious! Pretty saucepan, too!
I bet your momma had as good of a time being together as you did. I love cooking in the kitchen with Stephie. When you don’t get to see each other as often, it makes the time together even more special. Glad you had a good weekend filled with yummy food and family time. 🙂
So happy you got to see your mom! That awesome and this tomato sauce is killer! It looks and sounds delicious! Why do moms always have the best recipes?
My kinda meal, sounds like you had a great time with mom to!!
I love hand-me-down mom recipes – they’re the best aren’t they? A bowl of pasta & classic tomato sauce is one of my favourite things in the world so I’m definitely going to try this recipe.
Wow, those are gorgeous tomatoes! So glad you had a nice time with your mom. I love making my mom’s recipes. This one looks like a sure winner!
Recipes like this remind why I started cooking in the first place, Honest great quality ingredients, minimal prep and filled with love. Thank you for sharing such a heart felt recipe! I could use a bowl right now!
Classic recipes are simply the best.
Wine makes EVERYTHING better! What a lovely time with your mom. Every August I can tomatoes with my mother in law (in fact we are doing so today), then I can make sauce in December and remember the great time we had together canning in the kitchen. The best memories!
Elle — We both know what’s up — when you’ve got a bunch of tomatoes, pasta is the answer. 🙂 Thanks!
Mimi — Thank you! It was my great-grandmother’s pan — I love it 🙂
Julie — Thank you! I’m glad we have the chance to be able to spend quality time with our moms in (and out of) the kitchen — it’s a special treat, for sure 🙂
Tieghan — Right? They must be part of a secret club or something. 😉 Good thing they’re willing to share their secrets! Thanks, dear!
Gerry — Thanks, friend!
Kathryn — They really are the best. I hope to make more soon. Thanks, friend — hope you love the recipe!
Cassie — I know, the tomatoes were so pretty I almost didn’t have the heart to blend them up into a sauce (but looking at them isn’t as tasty as eating them ;)). Thanks, dear!
Belinda — These are the kind of recipes that keep me going in the kitchen, for sure. 🙂 Thanks, love!
Meagan — I totally agree. Thanks!
Maria — Oh, I love that. If I wasn’t so terrified of canning I might do the same. 🙂 Enjoy your day with your mother-in-law!
I love homemade spaghetti sauce! Your mom’s recipe sounds so good!
There are few things my dad loves more than fresh heirloom tomato sauce…definitely got to make this for him. Pinned!
It sounds like you had a blast with your family. That marinara looks crazy good. I love making homemade sauce, but I usually make it with canned tomatoes. I’ll have to try it with fresh tomatoes. Thanks for sharing.
So jelly you got to cook with your mom! This recipes sounds amazing and made with the best ingredient, love:)
Making homemade sauce is the stress reliever of a lifetime! I was feeling super cranky this past weekend and made a homemade bolognese. My house smelled so good all day that I forgot about my case of crabbiness! What would have been better was if my Mom came over to make sauce for me, lucky! This looks perfect. I can’t wait to make this and freeze it so I can enjoy heirloom tomatoes all year!
Go Mama!!! This sauce looks incredible!
Jessica — Thank you!
Rachel — Ooo, yay, I hope he loves it. 🙂 Thanks so much for pinning, dear!
Jennie — Actually my mom usually makes it with canned tomatoes, too, but this was a delicious, fresh variation. Either way works! Thanks! 🙂
Lauren — Love is the best ingredient, for surely. 🙂 Thanks, friend!
Stefanie — It’s so true — homemade sauce cures many ills, especially if made with the ones you love. 🙂 Thanks!
Erika — Thanks, love!
perfect timing! Charlotte asked for spaghetti and meatballs for her 5th birthday dinner tonight!
Claire — Fun! Hope she (and you!) loves it! Happy birthday to Charlotte!
These are the kind of recipes I cook because of! I love a good pasta sauce and your mom’s looks perfect, Steph. Pure comfort food!
I just finished lunch but I seriously want to inhale that entire bowl of pasta. Yes please!!
Georgia — Thank you so much, friend! These are definitely the recipes that make me love being in the kitchen. 🙂
Laura — I had a bowl of this pasta for lunch and I already want a second bowl! 🙂 Thanks, friend!
Aw! So nice that you got to spend such quality time with family. The sauce looks amazing! My mom usually spends a fall weekend making sauce, meatballs, stuffed peppers, stuffed shells, etc., and I get to stock my freezer.
Stephanie, this looks and sounds so delicious! Want, want, want. Having mom come visit is the best, isn’t it?!
Yumm!! My mouth is literally watering from reading this post…maybe in part because i didn’t eat dinner? I admit I’m also guilty of using the jar variety of spaghetti sauce, but I hear once you make it for yourself the first time, there’s no going back! Wonderful recipe, Stephanie.
I want that pot, I’m diggin’ Mama’s nail color (and that she’s rockin’ the thumb ring, I’m always a thumb-ring-wearer myself), and I want to take a bath in that sauce. (Too far?)
Nothing beats cooking with your mom! This tomato sauce rocks!!
There aint nothin’ like a mama visit! Well… except a mama recipe! Double win, lady!
Megan — Um, that sounds AMAZING. Can I come over? 😉
Marie — It definitely is! Thanks, love!
Monica — Hope you got yourself some dinner, girl! Maybe some of this sauce? 😉 And yes, now that I know how easy this is, I’m definitely done with the canned stuff. Thanks, dear!
Stephie — Nope, not too far. I want to do the same. And my mom totally rocks the thumb ring well, doesn’t she?
Julie — It’s so true — cooking with moms is the best. 🙂 Thanks, friend!
Ashley — Yay for a double win! 🙂 Thanks, doll!
Homemade tomato sauce sounds heavenly!! I’m bad. I used canned tomatoes. I’ve gotta try this instead!
Ohhhh momma! Like you I pull out the “too busy” card all the time and buy pasta sauce in a jar, but I’m thinking making this recipe and freezing what I don’t use is my golden ticket to the best pasta sauce for eeeever! That beautiful pot you made the sauce in is…well, it’s beautiful! Your mom’s recipe looks fabulous! Thanks, Stephanie and Stephanie’s mom!! 🙂
Woa- thats some great looking sauce! Your pictures are so good – i feel I can smell the basil, oregano and garlic! 🙂
Yes….thanks for the reminder. I need to stop buying sauce and start making it at home, again! Sounds like such a nice weekend with your mom! Mine is coming for a visit this weekend, and after reading your post I’m a billion times more excited 🙂
Steph — Not bad — I usually do, too. 🙂 This was a special occasion!
Julia — I love that about it — it makes tons and oodles of pasta sauce so even though it’s more work from the outset, it’s worth it. Thanks, lady!
Shashi — Thank you, dear!
Kelli — Oh yay, have so much fun with your mom! Maybe you guys can make this sauce, too 🙂
I have a whole bunch of heirloom tomatoes that I’m currently waiting on to ripen and they would be puurrrfect for this recipe. Sigh, nothing says comfort like a big bowl of spaghetti!
This definitely looks like the best tomato sauce ever! *-*
Sarah — Perfect timing, then! Well, I guess it would be better if they already were ripe, but at least you have something to look forward to. 🙂 Thanks!
Consuelo — Thank you so much!
Somehow mom’s spaghetti sauce ALWAYS tastes better than anyone else’s…I think we’re all conditioned to like it the best as kids. 🙂 My mom definitely never cooked with heirloom tomatoes though so I think I need to get this on the menu! Plus it would be so great to stash away some containers of it in the freezer for quick dinners.
Joanne — That’s what we do — stash away extras in the freezer for those nights when we want pasta but don’t want to have to make a full batch of sauce again. It’s awesome!
First of all, mom’s are the best. Second of all, heirloom tomato sauce? I die. Must make soon!
Mackenzie — Haha, thanks friend! 🙂
Those tomatoes! I die. And I love your little crock you cooked them in. Too cute!
Hayley — Thank you, dear!
I just found you on instagram and decided to check out your blog!
Everything looks so delicious and fresh!
If you don’t mind, could you check out my blog please! Thank you 🙂
Oh my GOSH I’ve been trying to cook my way through Smitten Kitchen’s various tomato sauces but this one is definitely elbowing its way to the top of the list!! This looks DELICIOUS. Mom recipes are totally the best!
Erika — Oh yay! I can’t promise this one can compete with Smitten Kitchen’s, but it is pretty tasty. 🙂
moms always have a killer spaghetti sauce recipe. This sounds fantastic! so happy you got to spend some quality time with your mama!
Thank you for sharing the recipe and images for your mama’s heirloom tomato spaghetti sauce. I made my very first batch of homemade today. It’s gotten rave reviews from the family. I can’t wait for my next “bumper” crop of more tomatoes than can be eaten in a day or two…
Diana — I’m so glad to hear you made it and enjoyed it! My mama will be happy to know. 🙂
Hey Stephanie! Just a heads up your “pin it” buttons that appear when you hover over an image weren’t working for me, no image would show up. Looks like a super yummy & easy sauce though, I will definitely be making it this winter!
xo julesinflats.com
I’m trying out this sauce tonight! So far it looks, tastes, and smells delicious!
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Thank you so much for the recipe. I have fixed it twice already and love it. I fixed the meatball recipe too. Awesome! Blessings to your and your mommy.
Lantha — Thank you so much! I’m so glad you love the recipes! 🙂
Recipes looks good. Wish I’d stocked up on Tomatoes when they were in season to do big batch. Anyone know what you can use in place of paste. Trying to use less canned items with all the not good stuff for you.
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If the tomatoes are in season, adding the parse, oregano and bay is tragic. Tomatoes, basil, olive oil, salt and black or red pepper. Maybe a hint of anchovy and a sprinkle of cheese. That’s it, pure summer.
Say it’s Friday, and I don’t want to go grocery shopping but really want to make the meatballs and the homemade sauce. I have every ingredient except the heirloom tomato and I know it would be delicious with those but, I have a pantry full of canned tomato wedges , crushed tomato, diced tomato, and tomato sauce could I use some of those instead if so how much would I use. If you know I would appreciate your help. Plan on making your Asiago Rolls and meatballs tonight.
Deborah, No need to use heirloom tomatoes! You can use vine-ripened tomatoes instead or the equivalent of 2 1/2 lbs of canned tomatoes. Enjoy!