Tarragon tomato sauce
Full of flavour the tarragon tomato sauce is great for use in many recipes & meals.
- Either on it’s own for use with pasta or rice
- Or combined with chicken & penne (as in the picture)
- Or even on top of meat dishes like pork or lamb.
In addition to the tomatoes, the combination of tarragon and mint works very well. Especially when using fresh herbs.
How to make tarragon tomato sauce
Ingredients:
- 3 tbsp chopped French Tarragon
- 3 tbsp chopped basil
- 1 onion – cut into very small pieces,
- 4 garlic cloves,
- 2 tbsp Olive oil
- 250 ml Vegetable stock
- 3 tbsp Tomato puree
- 800 g Chopped tomatoes (2 tins)
- Salt & pepper to taste,
Equipment
- Large frying pan,
- Chef’s knife
Instructions
- Add the olive oil into the frying pan, and then add the chopped onion, crushed garlic and chopped tarragon & basil. Fry until the onion is glazed. (About 3 to 5 minutes)
- Then add the tomato puree, stir well for 30 seconds to let caramelize.
- Add the vegetable stock & chopped tomato and heat on medium heat for 10 to 15 minutes.
- Then remove from heat and use in meals. (see note below)
4 key questions:
1. – What are the best herbs for tomato sauce?
When making tomato sauce 3 herbs will make all the difference:
This recipe uses both Tarragon and Mint – which work really well in combination to give it extra flavour.
The alternative is to use Oregano, for example the Fresh Passata Bolognese recipe uses this herb to give it a real authentic flavour.
2. – What are the best tomatoes for tomato sauce?
The type of tomatoes you use in your tomato sauce will make a real difference.
There are 2 options:
Option 1 – canned tomatoes
This recipe (& the video) used canned chopped tomatoes for convenience. Simple reason is that it’s easy and adds nice taste.
However, do note there is a real difference in quality and the better (more expensive) options do taste a lot better.
Option 2 – Fresh tomatoes
They add real flavour and either Roma tomatoes or San Marzano tomatoes will be great. Especially the Roma tomato is used most often in Italian sauces.
To use fresh tomatoes all you do is wash & dry the tomatoes, remove the stem and cut into large chunks. Then add the chopped tomatoes into a sauce pan and add some salt. Heat on high for about 5 minutes until they start to lose their moisture. And then use them in the recipe as shown below.
3. – What adds flavour to tomato sauce?
As well as the tomatoes there are 3 items that will add flavour to your tomato sauce:
3a. – The type of tarragon you use
When cooking there are 3 different types of tarragon you can use – French, Mexican and Russian.
French Tarragon has much more taste then the other 2 varieties, which is why this was used in the Tarragon tomato sauce recipe.
For example if you use Russian tarragon you will need to use at least 4 times as much for the same flavour..
French tarragon is very easy to grow at home.
For example the picture on the right shows French Tarragon growing on a bedroom window sill in a pot, and will grow quite quickly.
It’s quite small in the picture simply because I tend to cut it back often for use in recipes.
3b. – The type of mint you use
Fresh mint leaves add real flavour to many recipes.
You can buy Fresh Mint in many shops (the mint used in this recipe is spearmint, which is the most common mint sold in shops)
But it’s also very easy to grow at home.
But do note the different mint types all have a unique flavour (Orange mint, Spearmint, Apple Mint, etc.).
Changing the type of mint you use adds a real unique flavour to your sauce.
3c. – Onion & garlic
This recipe uses both chopped onion & garlic.
Especially the garlic is very important, and adding more adds real different flavour to your sauce.
But did you know? that there are over 600 different varieties of garlic.
Most shops will sell only one type, but it’s well worth checking to see if they have some of the other flavoured ones available.
4. – How do you use tarragon tomato sauce?
The picture at the top of the page shows it being used with chopped chicken breast & pasta. All you do is slice the chicken breasts into slices and fry in a frying pan until ready. Then simply add it into the tarragon tomato sauce and put on top of pasta.
Similarly you can simply use it with other meats or fish, or even on it’s own with rice or pasta.
Tarragon tomato sauce
Equipment
- 1 Large frying plan
- 1 Knife and chopping board
- 1 measuring jug
Ingredients
- 3 tbsp Chopped French Tarragon
- 3 tbsp Fresh basil leaves Chopped
- 1 Onion Chopped
- 4 cloves Garlic Crushed
- 250 ml Vegetable stock
- 3 tbsp Tomato puree
- 800 g Chopped tomatoes (2 cans)
- 2 tbsp Olive oil
- Salt and Pepper
Instructions
- Add the olive oil into the frying pan, and then add the chopped onion, crushed garlic and chopped tarragon & basil. Fry until the onion is glazed. (About 3 to 5 minutes)
- Then add the tomato puree, stir well for 30 seconds to let caramelize.
- Add the vegetable stock & chopped tomato and heat on medium heat for 10 to 15 minutes.
- Then remove from heat and use in meals. (see note above)
Video
Nutrition
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The country recipe challenge.
This recipe is part of my country recipe challenge, where I am trying to find 1 recipe from each country in the world.
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The flavour is just amazing. Probably the best sauce I’ve ever cooked