RCP: Let's talk tomato sauce!

[Robin Garr]

I've posted several times lately about my adventures with our little patch of San Marzano tomatoes, how fragile these Italian heirlooms are, and how much we enjoy the rich, intense tomato sauce that they make.

I've had a couple of requests for the recipe I use to make tomato sauce, something I do quite a bit every summer when we start getting a tomato bounty, although never better than with the San Ms; so I thought I'd post it here, and also invite your contributions of summer tomato sauce recipes and other good ways to use up fresh garden tomatoes in bulk.

It's really a simple process, but in a way the opposite of traditional Italian-American "gravy," because rather than taking advantage the flavor effects of very long simmering and caramelization, this one goes the other direction with a philosophy based on quick, minimal exposure to heat in the interest of retaining fresh, garden-tomato flavor. It's just about as simple as can be, and doesn't take long.

1. Take all the tomatoes you've got, and cut them into chunks. No need to peel or de-seed. Put them in a large pot.

2. Toss in two or three big sprigs of fresh basil leaves, some roughtly chopped Vidalia or other sweet onion, a few smashed cloves of garlic, and just a splash - maybe 1 tablespoon - of quality olive oil. A couple of shakes of salt and black pepper, but don't overdo, you can always add more to taste when it's done.

3. Put it over high heat and bring just to a boil, then reduce to a simmer, cover, and cook, stirring occasionally, for 15 or 20 minutes, just long enough for the tomato chunks to cook through and become soft.

4. Remove from heat, allow to cool slightly, and run it through a Foley food mill (see below), pressing down as you process in an effort to get as much of the goodies through as possible.

You can use it immediately - it's great right over hot spaghetti with nothing else but maybe some more black pepper and grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese - or distribute among one-cup containers and freeze. I try to have a freezer full at the end of the season, and used judiciously, there's enough to use every week or so and bring back the aromas of the garden all winter.
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There's really no substitute for the Foley food mill, an old culinary tool that still has a place in today's kitchen. Easy to use, with only one moving part , it makes a sauce with perfect texture and easily separates sauce from skin and seeds, which stay behind and can be easily discarded. Yes, you could peel and seed all those tomatoes in advance and then blend the sauce with food processor or blender, but the food mill is affordable and useful. If you don't have one, you probably need one anyway.

I prefer a more intense sauce. I peel the tomatoes, cut them in half and seed them over a strainer. Then I oven dry the tomato pieces for a few hours at 200 degrees. I take the strained juice and cook it a bit to stop it from spoiling. Depending on how much juice there is and how much sauce I want to make I save some juice for gazpacho.

When the tomatoes in the oven are partially dried I take them out and place them in a sauce pan with some of the saved juice. I then make my additions and let it cook for a short while. I then use the food mill. I find this gives me a more intense sauce.

Robin, your method is step for step, exactly what I do. I wish I had more freezer space. I use those containers as is or as a base for something else. Always imparts a freshness that you can't get with any other method

Very similar to what I do. Of course, the Foley is necessity.

Here is one we have been using for decades:

FRESH TOMATO SAUCE: (from "The Romagnolis’ Table", circa 1974).

1 Stick (8 tablespoons) Unsalted butter
1 ½ lbs San Marzano or other fresh plum tomatoes, peeled and chunked
6 large fresh Basil leaves
1 ½ tsp Salt

Melt butter in a saucepan and add tomatoes. Break basil leaves into pan, and add salt. When the sauce comes to boil, lower the heat to a bubbling simmer. Cook this way for 20 minutes or so until juice has cooked away a bit, and color has darkened; stirring occasionally. If it hasn’t cooked enough it will sink to the bottom of the pasta when mixed.

I prefer a more intense sauce. I peel the tomatoes, cut them in half and seed them over a strainer. Then I oven dry the tomato pieces for a few hours at 200 degrees.

I do that all the time with supermarket/Whole Foods/substandard tomatoes, but it seems a shame to do it with fresh delicious garden/farmer's market ones.

When you have a garden burstin' with fresh tomaters, you have to bite the bullet and can. I make sauce similar to Robin but with garlic instead of onion. I can 'em whole, just removing the skins first. I slow roast and preserve in oil.

Thanks, Robin. We do not have your particular kind of tomatoes, Robin, but we always make our own sauce from what's fresh and on hand. I feel badly when I walk down the pasta isle in the supermarket and see people buying jars of pre-made sauce. I always want to add a little sweet sausage or ground beef but Liz tells me I can add what I want when I make it, not when she's making it.

Very similar to what I do. Of course, the Foley is necessity.

Ok Chef, so whose recipe is similar? I mean I would want to be similar too. It's new to me, but I now make Marcella Hazan's simple tomato sauce. There are 3 ingredients, tomatoes, onion, and butter. Wow what a rich sauce. I then use the basic tomato sauce for spag, or anything requiring a tomato sauce and it is rich enough to call it Rockefeller sauce. Had some with spag last evening!

I can see where Marcella would use butter. I use olive oil. And really the only difference between Robin's recipe and mine is the fact that I add a little carrot for sweetness.

Oh, and I would add - after you've processed the mixture - turn the food mill over and, using a rubber scraper, get all the stuff stuck to the bottom of the mill.

[Robin Garr]

Oh, and I would add - after you've processed the mixture - turn the food mill over and, using a rubber scraper, get all the stuff stuck to the bottom of the mill.

Absolutely! Don't waste a drop of the precious nectar.

I don't have a Foley. Would a chinoise work just as well?

JB

[Robin Garr]

I don't have a Foley. Would a chinoise work just as well?

Probably, JB. I hadn't thought of that. The key is that the Foley puts out a pulpy sauce, but the skins, seeds and basil stems by and large don't make it through the holes into the sauce. If your chinoise works like that, then go fer it!

I don't have a Foley. Would a chinoise work just as well?

JB

JB, I would think that the Chinoise would work as well, but would require more work. The Foley has a crank that turns the impellers that squeeze the pulp out and keeps the unwanted parts in the bowl of the Foley. Your chinoise does that too, but requires you to use the pestle like wooden tool by hand. Does that make sense?

Yes, Bob, it does. Plus, I think I'll lose some of that pulpy goodness of which Robin spoke. Looks like I'll have to break my vow not to buy one more kitchen gadget!!

JB

I don't have a Foley. Would a chinoise work just as well?

JB

I once borrowed my Mom's Chinoise-type strainer to puree some hot chiles (some were habaneros) into a thick pepper sauce. I washed it thoroughly afterwards, but weeks later when Mom used it to make applesauce, she called me to fuss because she said the applesauce burned her mouth.

I drove up to Peach Bottom Pennsylvania, (southeast Pa.) this past Friday to play some golf. Leaving the course I stopped at an Amish vegetable stand and bought 50+ pounds of beautiful tomatoes for $7. Several of us gorged ourselves yesterday afternoon on insalata Caprese and this morning I awakened early and made sauce out of about 25 pounds with our home grown basil and rosemary. Also made a large pan of eggplant parmesan with roasted red peppers and the sauce. Whew!, I need to go back to bed.

Drew

I roast all my tomatoes in the oven or in a pan on the grill. I mix whatever I have, heirlooms, paste tomatoes, all colors, cherry, cut in chunks or leave whole for cherries. Put a layer of non-stick foil in the pan, for speedy clean up. Drizzle evoo, salt and pepper over the tomatoes. Cut the top off a head of garlic and put it in with the tomatoes. Roast until they are turning brown and the juices are starting to caramelize on the bottom of the pan. You may have to remove the garlic before the tomatoes are done. Squeeze out the garlic cloves into your food processor. When the tomatoes are done, put them in, as well, skins and all. Whiz away. You now have tomato sauce or tomato paste depending on how many plum or paste type tomatoes you used. I was taught this method by an Italian lady many years ago. It makes the best sauce I've have ever had, rich, thick, a little Smokey, and so easy. She also told me to add one anchovy fillet with a bit of the oil into the food processor. It adds another level of complexity to the flavor of the sauce. Freeze in one cup containers, for up to two years. Great on pizza, as a base for other red pasta type sauces, soups, stews, etc.
Oven roasting really makes a mess of the oven and since my sweetie cleans the oven grills, it makes it easier to do it on the gas grill outside.

I roast all my tomatoes in the oven or in a pan on the grill. I mix whatever I have, heirlooms, paste tomatoes, all colors, cherry, cut in chunks or leave whole for cherries. Put a layer of non-stick foil in the pan, for speedy clean up. Drizzle evoo, salt and pepper over the tomatoes. Cut the top off a head of garlic and put it in with the tomatoes. Roast until they are turning brown and the juices are starting to caramelize on the bottom of the pan. You may have to remove the garlic before the tomatoes are done. Squeeze out the garlic cloves into your food processor. When the tomatoes are done, put them in, as well, skins and all. Whiz away. You now have tomato sauce or tomato paste depending on how many plum or paste type tomatoes you used. I was taught this method by an Italian lady many years ago. It makes the best sauce I've have ever had, rich, thick, a little Smokey, and so easy. She also told me to add one anchovy fillet with a bit of the oil into the food processor. It adds another level of complexity to the flavor of the sauce. Freeze in one cup containers, for up to two years. Great on pizza, as a base for other red pasta type sauces, soups, stews, etc.
Oven roasting really makes a mess of the oven and since my sweetie cleans the oven grills, it makes it easier to do it on the gas grill outside.

Karen, I roast tomatoes all summer long, and over the course of the summer I will do at least 100lbs of tomatoes. I keep saying that I will do the garlic thing, but never seem to get to it. I will do so though before the season is finished. Also, I do make a lot of Marcella Hazan's simple tomato sauce. that version has only tomatoes, unsalted butter and 1 or more onions halved and cooked with the tomatoes. This serves well as a base for almost any tomato sauce with only the addition of herbs and garlic. See it here. http://steamykitchen.com/8375-marcella- ... utter.html

I have Janden's book. It is a delightful book with beautiful food photography. I will have to try that recipe, the butter additon sounds heavenly. Thanks!

Christina wrote;
I wish I had more freezer space.

Why not just jar it in mason jars? I think my mom and sisters jarred almost 100 mason jars of tomatoes.

Salute

Christina wrote;
I wish I had more freezer space.

Why not just jar it in mason jars? I think my mom and sisters jarred almost 100 mason jars of tomatoes.

Salute

Victor,
IMO canning fruit and veggies is THE way to go, however one needs to can them under pressure in order to be assured of killing any little nasties left. And there is the idea that I can freeze things like tomato sauce and roasted tomatoes and use them as needed. I may be fooling myself, but I intend to do at least 100 - 150 pounds of tomatoes divided between roasted and sauce.

BTW, it is amazing (to me) how little sauce 20 pounds of fresh tomatoes make. I would say that when roasted, a 25 pound box of fruit makes about 5 quart size freezer bags. And when sauce is put through a Foley 25 pounds makes about 3 quarts of sauce plus about 3 quarts of seasoned juice.

...And really the only difference between Robin's recipe and mine is the fact that I add a little carrot for sweetness...

That's what my mother would do - run carrots through the Foley into the spaghetti sauce to get us to eat our vegetables.

[Robin Garr]

...And really the only difference between Robin's recipe and mine is the fact that I add a little carrot for sweetness...

That's what my mother would do - run carrots through the Foley into the spaghetti sauce to get us to eat our vegetables.

I agree with you both that carrots would add a nice touch to tomato sauce, adding a little more complexity to the flavor. I actually made an iteration of this sauce the other day in which I added a couple of green peppers to the recipe, and that was nice, too.

Bottom line, though, and the thought I had in mind when I posted this, was a simple, pure recipe that didn't add much to the delicious peak-of-summer tomatoes at all. A little garlic and onion, a little basil, but mostly just perfectly ripe tomatoes with minimal handling and just enough heat to soften them. Carrots, sure, another time. Roasting or extended simmering to gain caramelization? Good enough when you're stuck with winter tomatoes. But those didn't take me where I wanted to go with these ripe summer beauties.