1. In a large pot or Dutch oven, over medium heat, add olive oil and bring to temperature
2. Add onions and cook until beginning to become translucent, stirring occasionally
3. Add garlic and cook an additional two minutes
4. Add spices: salt, pepper, smoked paprika
5. Add passata - strained tomatoes
6. Add sugar
7. Allow to come to a boil, stirring occasionally
8. Add baking soda – it will froth, that's okay, once it stops frothing, the baking soda has been cooked out
9. Simmer approximately two hours until desired consistency is reached, stirring occasionally
10. Remove from heat
11. Enjoy

While the traditional tomato sauce recipe, also known as a marinara sauce recipe traces its origins back to 17th century Italy after being brought to Europe from Central and South America. Similar in appearance to the nightshade plant – poisonous flora – tomatoes were originally somewhat suspect before being adopted in the Naples region – home of the pizza – tomato sauces are also highly prevalent in Mexican, Spanish and French cuisines as well as North and South America. In fact, the largest tomato festival in the world – La Tomatina – is an enormous food fight drawing tens of thousands of people that happens every summer in the town of Buñol near Valencia, Spain.

Fun fact: Tomatoes are fruits that are considered vegetables. As are cucumbers and zucchinis.

The tomato sauce is an integral part of Italian cuisine, particularly for pizza and pasta but also serving as a base or foundation for many stew based dishes including chicken cacciatore, ossobuco and others.

While tremendously versatile with the addition of vegetables, meat, mushrooms and more, the simple tomato sauce has remained enduringly popular of its own accord as well as the base for Naples place in the culinary world – pizza, calzones, panzerottis. It is also – of course, – the foundation of many a pasta sauce.

Unfortunately for some – with their high acidity, tomatoes can trigger acid reflux. The addition of baking soda helps mitigate and neutralize that acidity without sacrificing taste. A fresh tomato sauce will hold in the fridge for four or five days. In the freezer – well sealed, your tomato sauce recipe can last up to three months.

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