I was going to start this post with some affirmation like ‘I love tomato sauce’ but that is basically redundant. Who doesn’t like tomato sauce?  Practically every culture under the sun has found a way to take tomatoes and make a delicious and velvety sauce.  When weaning our little ones, one can almost be sure that tomato sauce is the perfect vehicle to get us from liquid to solid.  Start with just the tomato sauce and slowly add rice, peas, macaroni…you get the idea.  I’ve heard of mothers ‘hiding’ other vegetables inside a tomato sauce.  News flash: your kids know there are vegetables in there but the trade off is worth it because everyone loves tomato sauce.

Sadly there is always a catch.  In this case the catch is citric acid and salt.  Habnabit! What are those things doing in an unsuspecting can of tomatoes? Well, it turns out that tomatoes are already a high acid food but they don’t can that well without the addition of MORE acid. Once the tomato canneries ADD acid, well, it is just taking it a step too far for babies. So to quote Heidi Klum, canned tomatoes are ‘out’.

Instead think of fresh tomatoes for your sauces.  This will add minutes to making sauce primarily because tomatoes need to be peeled prior to cooking because the skin is tough and can be a choking hazard for babies.

Another plus to cooking with fresh tomatoes is the ability to choose your variety. This makes a difference if your child is having a mild reaction to the acid levels in tomato sauces and tomatoes in general. Yellow and orange tomatoes have a lower acidity level in general but a rule of thumb is the sweeter the tomato, the less acid levels. Here is a handy article I found that discusses the different varieties. http://www.homeguides.sfgate.com/tomato-varieties-low-acidity-22860.html

What you will find below is a time honored process and not so much a recipe.  The tomatoes in this recipe are fresh Roma tomatoes. This is significant because Roma tomatoes are not usually green house grown so they have the sweet flavor and their texture is perfect for stewing.  They are also exceptionally cost efficient no matter what time of year. I think that after tasting this tomato sauce you are unlikely to go back to canned tomatoes. In the meantime, you’ll see a lot less skin rashes and tomato allergies.

Ingredients:

8 x Roma Tomatoes

A kettle of just boiled water

1 x Clove of Garlic

3 tbs Olive Oil

1 x Onion (Optional)

Fresh sprigs of thyme (Optional)

Preparation:

Score both ends of the Roma tomato with a little X and place in a stainless steal blow.  Pour the just boiled water over the tomatoes and watch as the skin starts to peel itself off.  After a minute, pour out the hot water and skin the tomatoes by hand.  The peel should just pull away as you handle the tomato.  Dispose of the skin.  To further drop the levels of acidity, it is a good idea to dispose of the tomato seeds and just have the fleshy skin for cooking. You don’t have to chop the tomatoes once you have scooped out the flesh.

Take a medium sized, heavy bottom pot and heat the olive oil on high.  Add the garlic and fry for a few seconds to release the flavour. Onion can be added at this time too to soften. Reduce the heat to medium-high and add the tomatoes.  Here is your chance to add any additional seasoning.

Reduce the heat to medium-low  to give the tomatoes a chance to stew.  Covered,  for a minimum 20 minutes only stirring it occasionally.  You may need to reduce the heat if you don’t have enough liquid or increase the heat if you don’t have a nice rolling simmer.

What you do with this sauce is your call.  It goes well with anything and I always keep a pot in the fridge for instant meals at any time. My rule of thumb is no more than three days.  This sauce also freezes well.  To serve, I like to add a touch of heavy creme, salt, pepper and Ditali (tube) pasta and I am done done done with dinner.