Homemade Italian Sauces

A_Sober_Paddy

So I like to make Italian food, but always try to make the sauces myself...

One thing I have noticed is that my sauces can at times lack flavor, sometimes a little watery...

I use tinned tomatoes and tomato puree...

Just wondering if anyone has any pointers for making tomato based sauces...

foodaholic

You really need to cook it down, so it's reduced to a thicker sauce, intensifying the flavour. How long are you cooking your sauce for ? Usually 2-3 hrs gives a good result.

I always add abit off sugar when using tinned tomatoes as it can be a bit tart

_blank_

Olive oil, heated but not smoking.

whack in a finely chopped onion, and a garlic clove or four.

cook them slowly, until the onion is soft and translucent, don't let them brown. This takes a bit of time on a medium heat, but it's worth it.

next add a half glass of red wine, allow the alcohol to evaporate off, then add in your tomatoes, puree and herbs. Oregano for that classic Italian flavour. Salt and pepper. I also add some paprika, a teaspoon or two. And maybe some chilli flakes for a bit of heat.

If I was going all out, I'd also add about a half pint of beef stock.

Bring to the boil, then simmer until it is at a nice consitency.

should take about an hour all in. Yes, add some sugar, but do it slowly. Taste, sprinkle sugar, taste again. don't just whack in sugar, if it doesn't need it you'll be left with a tomatoey, garlicy desert. Which isn't nice.

RobAMerc

As some others have said cook them down for a good long time, just because the tomatoes are warm doesn't mean it's cooked.

I would say start your sauce ( tomato ) with finely chopped garlic, celery, carrot and onion. Now I mean really finely chopped then lots of puree and I always use passata as I prefer the texture although if cooked down correctly it wont matter.

loveisdivine

For me the best Italian tomato sauce is Paolo Tullio's. Its just passata reduced down, then add quite a bit of oil either olive, or we mostly use rapeseed, then fresh garlic and basil right at the end so they retain their flavour.

Its the most amazing tomato sauce. Its heavy on the stomach when you're not used to the oil, but in Italy they counter this with a little alcohol first to help digestion.

Mrs Fox

loveisdivine wrote: »

For me the best Italian tomato sauce is Paolo Tullio's. Its just passata reduced down, then add quite a bit of oil either olive, or we mostly use rapeseed, then fresh garlic and basil right at the end so they retain their flavour.

Its the most amazing tomato sauce. Its heavy on the stomach when you're not used to the oil, but in Italy they counter this with a little alcohol first to help digestion.

I'd love love love to try this one out. I like how PT describes the sauce being less digestible

stmol32

Here's mine,
1) Sweat finely chopped onion and 4 to 6 garlic cloves on medium heat.

2) When translucent add good glug of Worcestershire sauce, good glug of balsamic vinegar, glass of wine, beef stock cube, salt, pepper, basil, oregano, knob of butter and a tablespoon of honey (careful not to over-sweeten sauce).

3) Keep stirring and reduce sauce until sauce is a bit thicker.

4) Add tin of tomatoes (I prefer plum tomatoes but whether this matters is a separate thread in itself) and dash of puree.
Let it bubble away on the LOWEST heat for at least an hour but the longer the better.

BailMeOut

_blank_ wrote: »

Olive oil, heated but not smoking.

whack in a finely chopped onion, and a garlic clove or four.

cook them slowly, until the onion is soft and translucent, don't let them brown. This takes a bit of time on a medium heat, but it's worth it.

next add a half glass of red wine, allow the alcohol to evaporate off, then add in your tomatoes, puree and herbs. Oregano for that classic Italian flavour. Salt and pepper. I also add some paprika, a teaspoon or two. And maybe some chilli flakes for a bit of heat.

If I was going all out, I'd also add about a half pint of beef stock.

Bring to the boil, then simmer until it is at a nice consitency.

should take about an hour all in. Yes, add some sugar, but do it slowly. Taste, sprinkle sugar, taste again. don't just whack in sugar, if it doesn't need it you'll be left with a tomatoey, garlicy desert. Which isn't nice.

Agree with all of this except the colour of the wine. White wine with tomato sauce works better as it is a brilliant flavour enhancer for tomatoes. Vodka works well too.

the beer revolu

BailMeOut wrote: »

Agree with all of this except the colour of the wine. White wine with tomato sauce works better as it is a brilliant flavour enhancer for tomatoes. Vodka works well too.

+1
It can be hard to convince people of that, though.
I use white wine in Bolognese too.

hdowney

+2 on the white wine in the sauce and the inability to convince people. It is always assumed red wine goes

blueshed

foodaholic wrote: »

You really need to cook it down, so it's reduced to a thicker sauce, intensifying the flavour. How long are you cooking your sauce for ? Usually 2-3 hrs gives a good result.

I always add abit off sugar when using tinned tomatoes as it can be a bit tart

i use a small bit of gratted carrot instead of sugar

stmol32

BailMeOut wrote: »

Agree with all of this except the colour of the wine. White wine with tomato sauce works better as it is a brilliant flavour enhancer for tomatoes. Vodka works well too.

Alright I'm game, white wine goes against all me instincts but I'll give it a go next time.

donalh087

All the above plus two points.

1. Add a few chopped slices of pepperoni with the onion at start to add some knife flavour.

2. For a good and quick pasta or pizza sauce, halve a kilo of tomatoes horizontally. Sprinkle with salt, sugar, garlic and rosemary. Drizzle with olive oil. Put in high oven for about 20 minutes or starting to char. Put in liquidiser and blitz. Very good.