Why it works: Onion and garlic match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 29,058 recipes. Both carry furaneol, which smells caramel, strawberry. The science ↓
Thick Tomato Sauce
Ingredients
Directions
Make the base
Heat the oil in a broad pan.
Peel and chop the onion and cook it slowly until softened. Do not let the onion color more than a pale yellow.
Peel and crush the garlic and add it towards the end.
Simmer the sauce
Pour in the canned tomatoes with their juice and the tomato puree (paste). Chop roughly in the pan with the edge of a palette knife.
Add the salt and pepper, sugar, and bay leaf.
Simmer slowly for 1 hour with the lid off, until reduced to a thick sauce, stirring now and then.
Add the chopped basil for the last few minutes only.
Use
Use for making pizzas, or for freezing.
Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)
What these numbers assume: 9 portions
| Ingredient | Portion assumed | kcal |
|---|---|---|
| Olive Oil | 1 tbsp (14g) | 119 |
| Sugar | 1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated | 49 |
| Onion | 1 medium (110g) | 44 |
| Tomato | 1 medium (123g) | 22 |
| Black Pepper | 1 tsp ground (2.3g) | 6 |
| Garlic | 1 clove (3g) | 4 |
| Bay Leaf | 1 leaf (0.6g) | 2 |
| Basil | 5 leaves fresh (2.5g) | 1 |
| Salt | 1 tsp (6g) | 0 |
One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.
Steps grouped into stages for easier reading; the method is the source's own.
Explore the science
The flavor team
The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.
-
Onion + garlictop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together29,058 recipes
Shared aroma: furaneol (caramel, strawberry).
-
Olive + tomatotop 1% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together15,539 recipes
Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).
-
Tomato + basiltop 1% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together3,979 recipes
Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).
-
Olive + garlictop 2% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together25,665 recipes
Shared aroma: linalool (floral, citrus).
-
Garlic + tomatotop 3% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together14,076 recipes
Shared aroma: furaneol (caramel, strawberry).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Olive oil
- Carries the onion and garlic and gives the base a rich, smooth fat.
- Onion
- Sweetens and adds savory depth as it softens slowly without browning.
- Canned tomatoes
- Provide the main body and acidity of the sauce.
- Tomato paste
- Adds concentrated tomato flavor and thickens the sauce.
- Sugar
- Balances the acidity of the tomatoes.
- Basil
- Adds fresh aroma, added late so its flavor stays bright.
The step that matters
Cook the onion slowly and only to a pale yellow. Browning the onion quickly brings bitter, harsh flavors into the sauce. Slow, gentle cooking softens it and draws out its natural sweetness, which carries through the whole sauce.
Swap the onion
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (olive, clove, garlic, tomato, pepper, sugar, basil):
- Capsicumfits better
- Eggplantfits better
- Spinachfits better
- Onionthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against olive, clove, garlic, tomato, pepper, sugar, basil. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.
“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.
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