98

Search engines are filled with AI generated garbage. Please help.

top 50 comments
sorted by: hot top controversial new old
[-] dumples@piefed.social 6 points 3 hours ago

When in doubt I look to serious eats for a recipe. Specifically Kenji Lopez-Alt. Here's his red sauce recipe.

This used canned but you can just replace it with fresh. My wife and I make a pasta pomodoro where you just slightly cook fresh tomatoes with some garlic and basil. You cook the tomatoes in a pan with olive oil and garlic while your pasta cooks to al dente. Once cooked add some pasta water and cook to desired thickness (uncover to reduce liquid or covered to add). Throw in the pasta cook for 1 minute to cover and throw on basil. We do it with a burrata in the bowl as well. It's amazing and so easy

[-] dkppunk@piefed.social 2 points 3 hours ago

Lots of great options have been offered to you already.

When I look for a recipe, I use noai.DuckDuckGo.com and add food network at the end of the search. It’s usually Alton Brown stuff that comes up.

[-] Kevlar21@piefed.social 2 points 4 hours ago

Anchovies are the secret ingredient to make it savory and delicious. Add one or two to your sauté at the beginning. The sauce will be way better and won’t taste like fish

[-] kugel7c@feddit.org 6 points 7 hours ago

I have two ways that i semi regularly use:

Onion fine dice, oil in pan, sweat onion till translucent, dice tomatoes, herbs incl garlic and chilli flakes in the oil for a short while(dealers choice), tomatoes in, lid on for 10min, lid off until you're at the right consistency, salt, maybe add sugar if not sweet enough.

Same ingredients in a glass backing dish, oven at 180°C for 35+ mins.

I don't care to remove tomato skins so I never do.

[-] Danquebec@sh.itjust.works 6 points 7 hours ago
[-] zeppo@lemmy.world 56 points 20 hours ago

Start by sauteeing some onions in olive oil, with tomato paste if you have it. When they start to get translucent add some diced garlic and cook for a minute. You could also have some celery and carrots in the initial sauté with the onions.

At this point you can put in the tomatoes, and cook a bit then mash them up, with some water if they’re not that juicy. Some people like to peel the tomatoes… That means put them in a pan of boiling water after scoring them on a few sides, and then taking them out after a minute or two and removing the peels, then putting them into the sauce. I don’t do this. I just remove the peels after the sauce has been cooking for a while.

Add some salt. I find them my sauce tastes a lot better if I add a quarter cup or so of red wine such as Merlot or Cabernet Sauvignon. If you don’t have that, some red wine vinegar helps to stoke the acidity. Sometimes I throw in some onion chunks, some mushrooms, and you should at some point probably add some herbs like garlic and basil.

Some recipes say to simmer for a really short time like 20 or 30 minutes. I prefer doing it for quite a while, like a few hours, which deepens the flavor and caramelizes the tomatoes for sweetness. One thing that I found I like is to cook it on the range in a Dutch oven for half an hour, and then put it in the oven at about 325 for a couple hours. That makes a really thick sauce. Just be sure if you do it on the range top to stir it often.

[-] Lennny@lemmy.world 3 points 8 hours ago

If you have a blow torch, use that on the tomato skins instead, then use a paper towel to rub the skin off. Not that it matters for a sauce recipe, but it doesn't cook the outer flesh like boiling does. Great for pico and other fresh tomato preparations.

Or use cherry tomatoes and the skins become less of a problem. To mass cut cherry tomatoes, put your tomatoes on a plate put another plate over them and run your knife through the seam.

Oh, a small pinch of red pepper when you're cooking down your aromatics is a great way to add more depth to your sauce. Especially useful if you don't have wine on hand.

[-] Madzielle@lemmy.dbzer0.com 1 points 5 hours ago* (last edited 5 hours ago)

blow torch!? Just blanch them and peel the skins lol for pico just leave the skins on

[-] treadful@lemmy.zip 25 points 19 hours ago

Some people like to peel the tomatoes… That means put them in a pan of boiling water after scoring them on a few sides, and then taking them out after a minute or two and removing the peels, then putting them into the sauce. I don’t do this. I just remove the peels after the sauce has been cooking for a while.

You can also just fuck it all up with an immersion blender, too.

[-] EggInDisguise 10 points 18 hours ago

My partner has a sensory issue with tomatoes, and anything that has a chunk of tomato big enough to feel has to be blended into oblivion.

Gotta say, I have started liking salsa more...

[-] Provolone@lemmy.zip 16 points 19 hours ago

Cut your tomatoes in half, put flat side down in pan. The tomatoes will cook in their own juices and after like 5 minutes the skins basically fall off. You can pull them off with a fork or something and then mash em.

[-] l3mming@lemmy.world 5 points 15 hours ago

Finally, some sense.

[-] meco03211@lemmy.world 5 points 16 hours ago

Pro tip if you hate extra work and planning. Freeze the tomatoes fully. Then let them thaw a bit. Skins peel right off. This messes up the texture of the tomatoes, but is inconsequential for a sauce.

[-] showmeyourkizinti@startrek.website 10 points 18 hours ago

This a great start and I’d just throw in, if you’re the parent of a small picky eater or just want to get more veggies in your life. I like to grate in all sorts of other veggies like broccoli, zucchini, spinach, carrots, just go nuts, because tomatoes have such a strong flavour your blander veggies go right in and if you grate it fine enough just dissolve so kids done see or taste them but all the good stuff still gets in.

[-] kolmaskommentoija@sopuli.xyz 3 points 7 hours ago

kids done see or taste them

Do not trust this though, if the kids are neurodivergent. If the picky eating is because of sensory issues, they might still notice, so be very careful with the amounts and types of vegetables. If they notice you are trying to trick them into eating something, that might damage their trust very deeply, and that causes all sorts of issues in long term. And they might refuse to eat the type of sauce again (or even all sauces you make), even if it does not have the veggies added.

[-] zeppo@lemmy.world 2 points 9 hours ago

That depends what you're cooking, I guess. I end up making lasagna or manicotti, and that could include any number of vegetables etc. If it will be served on plain noodles, adding veggies to the sauce itself sounds like a good idea.

[-] scrion@lemmy.world 5 points 17 hours ago* (last edited 17 hours ago)

Unless you follow the advice of cooking the sauce for a couple of hours, after which all that will be left of the veggies will be basically fiber.

To be fair, when cooking a sauce (or stew, soup etc.), some of the nutrients will enter the sauce (vs. cooking water that will later be thrown away), but preserving nutrients / vitamins etc. while cooking still means reducing heat / cooking time.

Please don't cook vegetables to oblivion and assume this will fulfill your kids nutritional needs. Not talking about you in particular, just making sure here.

[-] BlueEther@no.lastname.nz 3 points 17 hours ago

you forgot the garlic that needs to be put in just at the end

[-] zeppo@lemmy.world 1 points 9 hours ago

I throw things in at random throughout the process, really

[-] chaogomu@lemmy.world 2 points 15 hours ago

That depends on what sort of garlic flavor you want.

The Alicin in garlic does break down with time and heat, but that allows other parts of the garlic flavor to come forward.

[-] BlueEther@no.lastname.nz 4 points 15 hours ago

Well we already had garlic added twice:

When they start to get translucent add some diced garlic and cook for a minute

and you should at some point probably add some herbs like garlic and basil

There should already be plenty of the sweet garlic flavours, lets add a bit of garlic sharpness as well

/me likes garlic

load more comments (3 replies)
[-] StillAlive@piefed.world 7 points 16 hours ago

Don't need search engines for this. Martha Stewart has got you covered.

https://www.marthastewart.com/1554300/creamy-tomato-sauce

[-] TootSweet@lemmy.world 6 points 16 hours ago
  1. Sell tomatoes.
  2. Use money to buy pasta sauce.
  3. ...
  4. Profit!
[-] random_user@lemmy.dbzer0.com 7 points 17 hours ago
[-] l3mming@lemmy.world 6 points 15 hours ago

5 TABLESPOONS of butter? Jesus. That looks awful.

[-] RBWells@lemmy.world 1 points 5 hours ago

Browned butter tomato sauce is absolutely delicious.

[-] Robin@lemmy.world 2 points 14 hours ago

Why do you thunk restaurant food tastes so good?

[-] Leather@lemmy.world 1 points 12 hours ago

1 Medium onion, a mother fucking PINCH of salt... And 5, unholy, table spoons of butter.

I'm not even sure Olive Garden would serve this.

[-] YetAnotherNerd@sopuli.xyz 1 points 13 hours ago

It is surprisingly good. Personally we dice the onions and leave them in, and make sure to use San Marzano tomatoes if you can, but the recipe is solid regardless.

[-] Mouselemming@sh.itjust.works 1 points 13 hours ago

OP said fresh tomatoes, not canned.

[-] YetAnotherNerd@sopuli.xyz 1 points 13 hours ago

Still works. Figure out how to peel them (easy way is to toss in boiling water for a few seconds+), dice them up, then use the recipe.

[-] Mouselemming@sh.itjust.works 3 points 13 hours ago

Sure but if OP knew that they wouldn't have asked. Also it works better if you score an x before dunking them in the boiling water for 30 seconds

[-] Lennny@lemmy.world 1 points 8 hours ago

Even better if you just use a blow torch and paper towel. Why use all the energy to boil water you're likely going to toss, to reboil more water for your pasta.

[-] Mouselemming@sh.itjust.works 1 points 6 hours ago

Um, I don't have a blowtorch and I'd hesitate to use it on a paper towel unless as kindling, but tell me this method in a little more detail.

Also I haven't had pasta in a year or more but I do love a good tomato-based sauce for my stupid cauliflower, or just to eat by itself.

[-] e0qdk@reddthat.com 10 points 18 hours ago

I usually make quick sauces with my pasta and use whole canned peeled tomatoes. To alter for fresh, I'd score the tomatoes with a knife, then blanch and peel the skin off as the first step.

My default tomato-based sauce is:

  • olive oil
  • a few whole tomatoes (peeled) -- maybe about ~3 decently sized ones?
  • garlic (either fresh minced or garlic powder)
  • dried basil
  • salt
  • 1/4 tsp or so of capers
  • a few kalamata olives
  • pinch of MSG
  • pinch of cayenne pepper

When using fresh garlic, I add it to the pan first -- with garlic powder I add it with the other seasonings. I basically just combine everything, break up the tomatoes with a spatula, and let it cook down on medium heat (stirring occasionally) while I boil my spaghetti -- then finish the spaghetti in the sauce.

I usually make this just for myself and eyeball the ingredients -- so unfortunately, I don't have exact measurements for most of it.

This is basically a variant of spaghetti puttanesca without anchovies -- feel free to add those instead of (or in addition to) the MSG if you'd prefer.

load more comments (3 replies)
[-] TheVoiceOfRaison@thelemmy.club 11 points 20 hours ago

Do everything in the first paragraph in the nicely detailed guide by Zeppo, then instead put the tomatoes whole into a blender, (even the stalks fuck it, coz they're filled with goodness) chuck some tomato paste, a little vinegar some sugar, water and pepper and blend the fuck out of it. I like lots paprika in mine. When putting it in the pan cook for as long and slow as possible. At least an hour if you can spare the time. Plum tinned tomatoes are probably the best, but i know you asked about fresh.

[-] YouTalkinToMe@lemmy.world 2 points 10 hours ago

Never a good idea to eat green parts of the nightshade family

[-] GreenBeard@lemmy.ca 12 points 19 hours ago

Ooooh, maybe not the stems. It won't kill you but they're high in alkaloids that can cause digestive issues. Your recipe sounds like mine, but I finish by wilting just a bit of spinach in it for colour and those good vitamins, minus the toilet tax.

load more comments (4 replies)
load more comments (2 replies)
[-] Broadfern@lemmy.world 7 points 19 hours ago

Adding to the other commenters’ fantastic explanations, some minor tips:

Spices: basil, oregano, a quarter handful of bay leaves, thyme. Cover the whole pot with a generous layer of each, then stir in. If it gets too acidic, add a tiny dash of sugar. Beyond that is chef’s creativity, make it your own.

Time: A decent sauce is 3ish hours. Great sauces are all-day sauces. The best sauces are all-day sauces that are re-simmered for half an hour or so the next day.

Extra: Homemade sauce stores really well. Toss leftovers in a container in the freezer. Will last you a couple months at least.

[-] mossberg590@lemmy.world 2 points 8 hours ago

Remove the bay leaf before eating

[-] zeppo@lemmy.world 4 points 19 hours ago

Oh, right. Definitely a bay leaf or two.

[-] Onomatopoeia@lemmy.cafe 4 points 18 hours ago* (last edited 18 hours ago)

Very first result from a basic search: all recipes..com

For just about any basic, check with America's Test Kitchen

Their cookbook is $20 all day long, and is packed with tons of foundational information and well-tested recipes.

Every beginning cook should have it.

load more comments
view more: next ›
this post was submitted on 21 Aug 2026
98 points (100.0% liked)

No Stupid Questions

49516 readers
493 users here now

No such thing. Ask away!

!nostupidquestions is a community dedicated to being helpful and answering each others' questions on various topics.

The rules for posting and commenting, besides the rules defined here for lemmy.world, are as follows:

Rules (interactive)


Rule 1- All posts must be legitimate questions. All post titles must include a question.

All posts must be legitimate questions, and all post titles must include a question. Questions that are joke or trolling questions, memes, song lyrics as title, etc. are not allowed here. See Rule 6 for all exceptions.



Rule 2- Your question subject cannot be illegal or NSFW material.

Your question subject cannot be illegal or NSFW material. You will be warned first, banned second.



Rule 3- Do not seek mental, medical and professional help here.

Do not seek mental, medical and professional help here. Breaking this rule will not get you or your post removed, but it will put you at risk, and possibly in danger.



Rule 4- No self promotion or upvote-farming of any kind.

That's it.



Rule 5- No baiting or sealioning or promoting an agenda.

Questions which, instead of being of an innocuous nature, are specifically intended (based on reports and in the opinion of our crack moderation team) to bait users into ideological wars on charged political topics will be removed and the authors warned - or banned - depending on severity.



Rule 6- Regarding META posts and joke questions.

Provided it is about the community itself, you may post non-question posts using the [META] tag on your post title.

On fridays, you are allowed to post meme and troll questions, on the condition that it's in text format only, and conforms with our other rules. These posts MUST include the [NSQ Friday] tag in their title.

If you post a serious question on friday and are looking only for legitimate answers, then please include the [Serious] tag on your post. Irrelevant replies will then be removed by moderators.



Rule 7- You can't intentionally annoy, mock, or harass other members.

If you intentionally annoy, mock, harass, or discriminate against any individual member, you will be removed.

Likewise, if you are a member, sympathiser or a resemblant of a movement that is known to largely hate, mock, discriminate against, and/or want to take lives of a group of people, and you were provably vocal about your hate, then you will be banned on sight.



Rule 8- All comments should try to stay relevant to their parent content.



Rule 9- Reposts from other platforms are not allowed.

Let everyone have their own content.



Rule 10- Majority of bots aren't allowed to participate here. This includes using AI responses and summaries.



Credits

Our breathtaking icon was bestowed upon us by @Cevilia!

The greatest banner of all time: by @TheOneWithTheHair!

founded 3 years ago
MODERATORS