June 2026 – From The Fine Art of Italian Cooking, pages 70-71. This is the sauce part of their Florentine Pot Roast.
- 2.5 lbs fresh tomatoes
- 1 medium-sized red onion
- 1 large carrot
- 1 celery rib
- 1 small clove of garlic
- 2-3 leaves of basil
- red wine for deglazing
Upscale this recipe to make 1 gallon of sauce. From The Fine Art of Italian Cooking, pages 70-71 to make one meal for 6 people. Provide the weights of each ingredient.
2.5 lbs fresh tomatoes
1 medium-sized red onion
1 large carrot
1 celery rib
1 small clove of garlic
2-3 leaves of basil
Assuming the goal is approximately 1 gallon (3.8 L) of finished sauce, a practical scaling method is to scale the original recipe by total ingredient weight.
Original Recipe (estimated weights)
| Ingredient | Original Weight |
|---|---|
| Fresh tomatoes | 2.5 lb (1,134 g) |
| Medium red onion | 3.9 oz (110 g) |
| Large carrot | 3.2 oz (90 g) |
| Celery rib | 1.4 oz (40 g) |
| Small garlic clove | 0.1 oz (3 g) |
| Basil leaves (2–3) | 0.07 oz (2 g) |
Total ? 1,379 g (3.04 lb)
A gallon of tomato sauce weighs roughly 3,875–3,900 g (8.5–8.6 lb), requiring a scale factor of about 2.8×.
Ingredients for 1 Gallon of Sauce
| Ingredient | Weight |
|---|---|
| Fresh tomatoes – Blemishes removed | 3,190 g (7.03 lb) |
| Red onion | 310 g (10.9 oz) |
| Carrot | 255 g (9.0 oz) |
| Celery | 115 g (4.1 oz) |
| Garlic | 8 g (0.28 oz) |
| Fresh basil | 6 g (0.21 oz) |
Approximate ratios
10.9: 9.0: 4.1 is very roughly 4:3+:1+.
Alternately: a little more (10%) onion than carrots and half as much celery as carrots.
Rounded Kitchen Quantities
- 7.0 lb (3.2 kg) fresh tomatoes – – Blemishes removed
- 11 oz (310 g) red onion
- 9 oz (255 g) carrot
- 4 oz (115 g) celery
- 8 g garlic
- 6 g basil leaves
Because tomatoes vary considerably in water content and the amount of reduction during cooking, you may need to simmer slightly longer or shorter to finish at exactly one gallon. The ingredient ratios above preserve the proportions of the original recipe.
