Spiced Tomato Sauce

I like making things that feel familiar, but are a little different from what you usually see at restaurants. This spiced tomato sauce is one of those recipes. It’s still tomato sauce, but cumin, coriander, caraway, and smoked paprika take it in a different direction.

Harissa paste is often used in sauces like this, but it’s a pretty specialty ingredient. Most of what it brings is chile flavor and heat, and you can get that same idea with pantry spices. I use toasted cumin, coriander, caraway, smoked paprika, and a little red pepper flakes or cayenne instead.

I like serving this with chickpeas, roasted vegetables, or just some good bread on the side.

Spiced tomato sauce served on roasted potatoes, garnished with cilantro.

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon cumin seeds

1 tablespoon coriander seeds

1/4 teaspoon caraway seeds

2 teaspoons smoked paprika

Cayenne or crushed red pepper flakes, optional, for more heat

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 onion, small diced

4 cloves garlic, chopped

1 jalapeño, Fresno chile, or other hot pepper, chopped, optional

1 tablespoon tomato paste or tomato pepper paste

1 (28-ounce) can whole peeled tomatoes, crushed into smaller chunks by hand

1/2 cup vegetable stock or water, plus more as needed

Sea salt, to taste

Black pepper, to taste

Sugar, to taste

Directions:

1. Toast the cumin seeds, coriander seeds, and caraway seeds in a medium pot over low heat until fragrant. Transfer to a mortar and pestle and grind, leaving a little texture. Mix in the smoked paprika. This is your spice mix.

2. Heat the olive oil in the same pot over medium-low heat. Add the onion, optional chile, and a small pinch of salt. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the onion is soft and almost melty, about 10 minutes.

3. Add the garlic and spice mix and cook for about 1 minute, stirring, until fragrant.

4. Add the tomatoes, tomato paste. Stir well and bring to a gentle simmer.

5. Cook over low heat for about 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add vegetable broth or water as needed to adjust the sauce to the consistency you like.

6. Season with sea salt, black pepper, and a little sugar as needed.

Serving Ideas:

Serve with cooked chickpeas, roasted potatoes, rice, pasta, or a nice piece of bread.

Garnish with cilantro, parsley, dill, or lemon wedges.

For more heat, add a little cayenne or crushed red pepper flakes to the spice mix.

I like to keep some texture in the tomatoes, so instead of using puréed or diced tomatoes, I crush whole peeled tomatoes by hand. That way, I can control the size of the chunks.

Slowly cook the onions in olive oil until very soft and almost melty before adding the spices.

Adjust the texture of the finished sauce with a little vegetable broth or water as needed.