Spaghetti sauce

[Yuesang]

Hi

A friend said that the spaghetti sauce I made has a strong smell and taste of tomatoes. I followed a recipe from a cook book and the recipe uses Italian herbs in a combination of two parts of tomato puree to one part of tomato paste. Isn't spaghetti sauce supposed to have a strong smell and taste of tomatoes ?

Thanks
yuesang

[nowIamone]

You didn't say how much liquid (water, wine) was added to the toms or how long they were cooked, or if there was meat. All will mellow and mend the flavors together. Usually a little olive oil is used and the paste is sauteed in the oil for a minute. It's an important step, and does change the taste, mellowing the paste.

Your friend maybe used to meat sauces, the flavor of the meat does add tremendously to the sauce.

[siduri]

Here comes the smart alec from Rome. Spaghetti sauce should taste fresh and light. Tomato paste is ONLY used here when there is no other tomato available, only in stuff like stews (NOT for pasta sauce) and only ever in maximum one tablespoon dose (you buy it in a tube, like toothpaste!). It is not fit to eat as is. Never. It gives a horrible taste.
Also, herbs should be used sparingly. Some sauces use herbs, like rosemary and thyme and sage and origano, but you would want to select them yourself, not just a mix of them, and only in a specific kind of sauce (agli aromi di bosco - woodsy flavored). The only herb generally used in sauce is parsley and basil, and both are best added fresh after the sauce is MIXED with the pasta (never leave it just poured in the center, always mix immediately)

try this
sautee a chopped onion and a couple of garlic cloves, squashed, in some olive oil, over low heat till the onion is soft and transparent. Add a can of whole plum tomatoes,. Cook. salt and pepper to taste. You should cook so it just bubbles about 20 min to half an hour. Squash after a bit with a potato masher or fork to break down the tomatoes. stir occasionally not to let it burn, and keep covered so it doesn;t get too thick. Cook pasta al dente, drain immediately, put back in the pot, add a handful of real parmigiano grated, then mix in the sauce immediately. Serve at once.
Most sauces here don;t use meat. Yes, i know ragu bolognese, but most everyday sauces are meatless. At least what i;ve ever eaten here is.

[CameronW]

Hey, Siduri, I totally agree with your approach to spaghetti sauce, especially the part about avoiding tomato paste. You'll be horrified to learn that many Americans (mostly in areas without Italians, obviously) use canned tomato paste and tomato puree with WAY too much dried oregano, lots of ground beef, then add SUGAR (I know, it's awful), and call this abomination spaghetti sauce. And they top this with mounds of so-called parmesan from Wisconsin that bears little resemblance to Parmigiano-Reggiano.

And if you think that's bad, we have a product line called "Chef Boyardee", that's basically watered-down ketchup with beef and overcooked pasta. It could possibly kill you.

[deltadoc]

Originally Posted by siduri

Here comes the smart alec from Rome.
Most sauces here don;t use meat. Yes, i know ragu bolognese, but most everyday sauces are meatless. At least what i;ve ever eaten here is.

How about Mastriciano sauce? I thought I'd read that is a favorite in southern Italy?

doc

[Yuesang]

Hi
NowIamOne, I simmer sauce for about 45 minutes and using 2 cans of pureee and one can of past with 2 cans of water. I do not add any meat until I actually cook the meal.

Does that means that the spaghetti sauce should not have a strong tomato smell ?

As for the suggestions from Siduri, fresh tomatoes are very cheap over here and maybe I will use this instead of canned tomatoes.

Thanks for all your replies and certainly help improve my cooking.

yuesang

[siduri]

Originally Posted by deltadoc

How about Mastriciano sauce? I thought I'd read that is a favorite in southern Italy?

doc

Hi deltadoc,
Do you mean amatriciana sauce - sometimes called matriciana? Or is it another sauce? Anyway, that's one of many sauces, and yes, many sauces do have meat, ragu bolognese (not ragu napolitano) and amatriciana (bacon, onion, tomato) and abbruzzese sauce with lamb, and sauce with wild boar, etc. These are special occasion sauces on the whole. In the rome area you'd make a meat sauce for sunday's fettucine. Traditionally some salt pork was chopped with the onion, though most don't do that any more. Amatriciana has bacon, but you ask for one finger's width of bacon for a whole sauce. So even there, it's not much.
Most people's sauces are tomato and onion or garlic, even on sunday.

I'm actually american, moved here 30 years ago. I remember a roommate making sauce back in boston. He took two large cans of tomato paste, added a POUND of meat and then boiled it all - that's a LOT of meat and the paste, yuck! pretty hard to recognize that as tomato sauce. He was a very nice guy and we all smiled and ate it, but it wasn;t good.

[EricT]

Here's another one:
Saute a medium chopped onion, chopped stalk of celery, and a shredded carrot in a generous amount of olive oil. Add in a big can (32 oz) of diced or whole tomatoes, some salt, and red and black pepper to your liking. Simmer for 2-3 hours.

This makes a nice tomato sauce that's good for pasta, lasagne, whatever. I usually make a big batch and then freeze a couple small containers for later use.

[Yuesang]

ERicT
Thanks
That looks like quite an easy recipe to follow. I suppose like everyone else said, time must be given to simmer to mellow the sauce. Maybe this is what I am misiing out now.

yuesang

[Mangilao30]

A agree that canned and/or tubed tomato paste should be avoided at all cost.

Usually the fresher and lighter the sauce the better and so Siduri's advice for spaghetti sauce is right on.

In Tuscany, the ragu can be made with boar meat or hare, this is usually served in the winter though. And of course in Bologna, there is the traditional meat ragu with 1/3 ground beef, veal and/or pork. Everyone has their own recipe.

In the summer, a fresh light tomato sauce is very, very common, often with sweet cherry tomatoes and a bit of basil. Simmering for an hour is overkill, fresh sauces can be make in 20 minutes.

[pablopabla]

There is a tomato "sauce" called pomodoro passatta or something like that. Is it suitable?

[Mangilao30]

Originally Posted by pablopabla

There is a tomato "sauce" called pomodoro passatta or something like that. Is it suitable?

That is just fine, pomodoro passatta are tomatoes that have been peeled, sometimes seeded and run through a food mill.

[EricT]

Originally Posted by Yuesang

ERicT
Thanks
That looks like quite an easy recipe to follow. I suppose like everyone else said, time must be given to simmer to mellow the sauce. Maybe this is what I am misiing out now.

yuesang

Yes it's easy. This makes a fairly hearty sauce. But as mentioned by others, you can make a quicker, lighter sauce as well.

Another version I like to make is a marinara-type sauce. Heat some olive oil in a pan and cook 5-6 crushed cloves of garlic for a minute or two. Then add tomatoes, red pepper flakes, and salt to taste. This one only needs to simmer for 20-30 minutes. Add in some fresh basil for the last few minutes of cooking.

[FoodiePam]

I make Spaghetti sauce using tomatoes I grow in my garden. Most of the tomatoes are sauce tomatoes such as Roma type. But still the sauce is generally to watery. Other than peeling and dicing the tomatoes should I do something to try and reduce the water content?

Thanks

FoodiePam

[Mezzaluna]

YOu could try cutting them in half, then lightly squeezing out the seeds and watery part around them.