In Mastering the Art of French Cooking, Julia Child says, "Sauces are the splendor and glory of French cooking, yet there is nothing secret or mysterious about making them."
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In 1961, Julia Child brought everyday French cooking to America with her quintessential cookbook Mastering the Art of French Cooking. From simple sauces to boeuf bourguignon, her cookbook is a perfect introduction to French recipes for both beginners and more advanced cooks.
For my first foray into French cooking, I thought I’d start at the beginning and try a simple tomato sauce recipe, which is one of the five mother sauces.
How to Make Julia Child’s Provençale Tomato Sauce
Susan Bronson for Taste of Home
Ingredients
- 1/3 cup finely minced yellow onion
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 teaspoons flour
- 3 pounds ripe red tomatoes, peeled, seeded, juiced and chopped
- 1/8 teaspoon sugar
- 2 cloves mashed garlic
- a medium herb bouquet: 4 parsley sprigs, 1 small bay leaf, 1 sprig (1/4 teaspoon) thyme tied in cheesecloth
- 1/8 teaspoon fennel seeds
- 1/8 teaspoon dried basil
- small pinch saffron
- small pinch of ground coriander
- 1/4 teaspoon dried orange peel granules (or a 1-inch piece of dried orange peel)
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- Optional: 1 to 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- salt and pepper to taste
Tools You’ll Need
- 3-Quart Saucepan: Use a high-sided saucepan like this to simmer the sauce—or a Dutch oven, if you have one.
- Shun Chef’s Knife: This 8″ chef’s knife is a must-have for our Test Kitchen cooks.
- Wooden Spoon:I love wooden spoons because they won’t scratch the bottom of my cookware. Just be sure to keep separate spoons for sweet and savory cooking.
Initial Thoughts
Fresh tomatoes are the star of this sauce! The best time to make this recipe is when tomatoes are at the height of their ripeness during the summer. (Not sure what type of tomatoes to use? This guide explains what to do with each type of tomato.) The best part is that this sauce is perfect for freezing, meaning you can enjoy the flavors of late summer during the height of winter.
Getting Started
The recipe is quite straightforward: fresh tomatoes simmered with onion, garlic and herbs. The most daunting part of this recipe (for me at least), was prepping the tomatoes. Modern recipes get around this step by simply quartering the tomatoes and putting them through the coarse grating blade of a food processor. However, I thought I ought to be authentic to how Julia would do it, so I followed her tomato preparation instructions to a T.
First, blanch the tomatoes in boiling water for 10 seconds. Then use a knife to cut out the stem and peel off the skin, starting at the stem hole. To seed and juice the tomatoes, cut each peeled tomato in half crosswise (horizontally) and gently squeeze to remove the seeds and juices from the center of the tomato. Turns out this step, though a little time-consuming, was a lot easier than I thought!
Learn to be a better cook with a handful of lessons from Julia Child.
Susan Bronson for Taste of Home
Making the Sauce
Once the tomatoes were prepped, the rest of the recipe came together without too much effort. First, I cooked the onions in the olive oil in a three-quart heavy-bottomed saucepan over medium-low heat for 10 minutes, until the onions were tender. Then I added the flour, and cooked for three minutes. Finally, I stirred in the chopped tomatoes, sugar, garlic, herbs and spices, placed the lid on the pan, and cooked over low heat for 10 minutes. Last but not least, I removed the lid and let the sauce simmer for 30 minutes.
According to Julia, the sauce is done when “it tastes thoroughly cooked and is thick enough to form a mass in the spoon.” At this point, I removed the herb bouquet and stirred in two tablespoons of tomato puree to add a little cover. I gave the sauce a final taste and added some freshly ground pepper for seasoning.
Susan Bronson for Taste of Home
The Final Product
The resulting tomato sauce was absolutely delicious, and an easy way to dip my toe into the world of French cooking. This sauce is quite versatile and Julia suggests using it over chicken, beef, eggs, pizzas and of course, pasta. And, if you’ve made the tomato sauce from scratch, you probably ought to serve it over homemade pasta, right?
I would make this sauce again in a heartbeat! Just as soon as I’m done streaming The French Chef.
Master the Rest of Julia Child’s Recipes
FAQs
Fresh Ingredients: Homemade sauces allow the use of fresh, high-quality tomatoes and other ingredients, enhancing flavor. Customization: Homemade recipes can be tailored to personal preferences, allowing for the perfect balance of herbs, spices, and other seasonings.
Why does my homemade tomato sauce taste bland? ›
Flat or bland sauce likely needs a hit of something acidic to lift and enhance its flavors, such as a small splash of high-quality, flavorful vinegar, a squeeze of fresh lemon juice, or a few drops of not-too-fiery hot sauce.
What ingredients are in store bought tomato sauce? ›
Ingredients & Nutrition Facts
TOMATO PUREE (WATER, TOMATO PASTE), WATER, SEA SALT, CITRIC ACID, SPICE.
How can you tell if homemade tomato sauce is bad? ›
There are several telltale signs that tomato sauce has spoiled: It will look moldy, smell bad, or taste off. However, pasta sauce that's old—but not noticeably rotten—can still cause food poisoning, and aside from mold, there are no other visible signs that tomato sauce is past its peak.
Why do store bought tomatoes taste different? ›
'Supermarket tomatoes have been bred for yield and to make them look beautiful becauses consumers like them to look beautiful,' she said. 'Unfortunately, some of the flavour is lost in that breeding for yield.
Why don t store bought tomatoes taste good? ›
Notably, store-bought tomatoes tend to not have much flavor: they were designed to produce massive amounts of easily shipped fruits with a long shelf life, not for taste. Plants grown from seed from those tomatoes tend to be just as insipid.
How do you fix tasteless tomato sauce? ›
It might need herbs, salt, or even acid. It might need a splash of good olive oil. Keep adding a little in until it tastes right. A tablespoonful of chopped capers or a few finely chopped anchovies or sun-dried tomatoes can make a huge difference.
What can I add to tomato sauce to make it taste better? ›
Pungent fresh herbs like thyme, rosemary, sage, tarragon, and marjoram can liven up tomato sauce with their bold, distinctive flavors. Add 1 to 2 sprigs of one or more of them to your favorite sauce, cover, and simmer at least 5 minutes to allow them to infuse in the sauce. Remove the sprigs before serving.
Why does my tomato sauce have no flavor? ›
Boost the Acidity
Tomatoes are naturally acidic, but sometimes a jarred pasta sauce can lean too sweet, or just taste flat. Incorporating acids like lemon juice (and even zest) or red wine vinegar right before serving can round out your sauce.
How do you make store bought tomato sauce taste homemade? ›
Fresh herbs make all the difference in any pasta sauce, so if you have some lying around, they will really perk up a jarred sauce. Obviously, basil is classic, but thyme, rosemary, sage, marjoram, and oregano are all great in pasta sauce. Fresh parsley also makes anything sing, as do chives.
Sauce tomat is one of the classic French mother sauces. It's deeply tomato-y, creamy without cream, and can be used as a base for braised meat, thinned for soup, or tossed with pasta. Sally is the author of four cookbooks and is a regular correspondent for the Boston Globe Wednesday Food Section.
What spices can I add to store bought tomato sauce? ›
Red pepper flakes, dehydrated or fresh garlic, dried oregano, parsley, or basil, or an Italian seasoning blend are all good options. Dried herbs and spices should be added at the beginning of the cook time so that they have time to bloom.
Why does my homemade tomato sauce taste sour? ›
If you don't want to resort to sugar, baking soda, broth or cinnamon, you just have one thing left to do; cook the tomato as little as possible because, perhaps you can't imagine it, but the more tomato it cooks, the more sour it becomes.
How to throw out tomato sauce? ›
Compost or Trash
If composting is not an option, it goes in the trash.
Can you eat 2 week old tomato sauce? ›
Once opened, it's best to use your jar of pasta sauce in about five to six days. For sauces that contain dairy, like Alfredo or other cream sauces, it's best to stick to three or four days. Unlike bread or other foods, mold is less of a concern — of course, if you leave that jar long enough, mold will certainly grow.
Is homemade tomato sauce better than canned? ›
Jarred tomato sauce is purely a "convenience food" category at the grocery store. Finished product in a can is rarely better than homemade. Taste isn't the top priority--most people are paying for convenience & not taste.
What are the benefits of making homemade tomato sauce? ›
Highly regarded for the antioxidant lycopene, tomatoes can help reduce risk of heart disease and cancer. Since lycopene is actually improved when tomatoes are cooked, making a sauce from garden-fresh tomatoes is smart and enables you to create something you simply cannot find at the store.
Is homemade tomato sauce healthier? ›
Healthy tomato sauce is made from scratch with only a few simple, high quality ingredients! Crushed tomatoes, extra virgin olive oil, garlic, fresh basil, and simple seasonings come together to make a fragrant, flavorful, sweet, and balanced sauce. Plus it is low sodium, low sugar, and can be ready in under 30 minutes!
Is it worth it to make your own tomato sauce? ›
The one area where homemade tomato sauce really shines, however, is in the flavor department. Even when using canned tomatoes instead of garden-fresh ones, a homemade tomato sauce made with onions I sautéed myself and spices from my cupboard always tastes richer and more balanced to me than what comes from a jar.
Susan Bronson for Taste of Home
Susan Bronson for Taste of Home
Susan Bronson for Taste of Home
