Store bought tomato sauce is great to have in the pantry. If there isn’t a lot of time to whip-up a dinner completely from scratch there are some justifiable shortcuts. This is one of them. However, tomato sauce is easily made at home, freezes very well, and tastes much better than any commercial brand (and I’ve tried them all).
This is my version of pomodoro sauce, basic tomato sauce, and is a staple in the freezer. This is not marinara sauce. Marinara, the word itself, is derived from “mar”, meaning from the sea. Authentic marinara sauce contains anchovies, garlic, and usually red pepper flakes if it’s any good. Tomato sauce, or pomodoro sauce, is one of the “5 mother sauces” in traditional French cooking and can easily be modified to other sauces…such as marinara.
There are a few key concepts to making a great pomodoro sauce and the first one is the most important. Tomatoes. Not all canned tomatoes are equal. Buy a few small cans, open them, and taste each one. Taste the liquid and taste a small bite of the tomato. You will see my point. Some are very acidic, some are “flat”, some are too mushy, and some contain too many large seeds. It is well worth doing a taste test of your own, but you can take my word on this: Dell’ Alpe brand is hands down the best. The plum tomatoes are firm, rich, very sweet, and the seeds are small. Much like wine, the tomato gets its character from the soil it is grown in. Dell’ Alpe brand is imported from Italy, from the Naples region, where the minerals from the Mount Vesuvius volcano form the character.
Here is another rule, or concept. Never add baking soda or sugar. Some shoemakers add baking soda to cut down the acidity, but the same can be accomplished by cooking it slowly for a longer period of time. In my opinion, baking soda also adds a nasty flavor. Sugar is too often added because someone didn’t listen to me, or didn’t do a tasting of canned tomatoes, and used an acidic tomato. This sauce is about the tomato. Other flavorings can be added later.
I cook by taste, sight, and smell, and therefore it is difficult to document an exact recipe, but following this will give you success the first time. I make a large batch and freeze one quart portions in the Ziploc containers with the screw on tops. Remember, make sure the sauce is cold, not hot, warm, or cool, before putting a lid on it. You want your pomodoro sauce to be memorable for the texture and flavor and not because you sent your family to the bathroom for a few hours.
Step 1: The pot
This is a large recipe and it is going to be cooked for a long time. Never use an aluminum pot because the acidity of the tomatoes will react with the aluminum giving an awful metal flavor. I use a large cast iron pot, a 4.5 quart Le Creuset Round French/Dutch Oven to be exact. This pot will set you back about $225, but it will last a lifetime and can be handed down to your kids.
Step 2: The tomatoes
For this recipe I use two (2) #10 cans of peeled, whole, Dell’ Alpe brand tomatoes. You can easily half this recipe. A #10 can is the big one, the really big on, about 6 to 7 pounds each. If you can’t find the #10 can buy smaller cans to equal 12 to 15 pounds (total). Open the can the drain the tomatoes RESERVING THE LIQUID. If you have a food processor pulse the tomatoes in batches to chop them. Don’t puree them! You want chunks of tomatoes in the final product for body. If you don’t have a food processor use your hands. Get the kids to help – they’ll love making a mess. Don’t buy the diced or crushed tomatoes. With such a long cooking time they break down too far and finished sauce will not have enough body.
Step 3: The Rest of the ingredients
If you have a food processor, puree 1-1/2 onions: Spanish or yellow, not sweet or Vidalias. Otherwise finely mince them. You will also need about a quart or 3 cups of whole milk or half and half, a handful of fresh basil, and about 3 tablespoons of chicken base*. Chicken base is another justifiable shortcut. In the restaurant we made white demi, or chicken gold. This is a chicken stock made from chicken stock (instead of water) and reduced by about 75 percent until it was a Jell-o like consistency. It takes a lot of time and money (hence chicken gold (AU)), but the flavor and body is amazing. At home I use a few tablespoons of chicken base and call it a day.
Step 4: Cook it already!
Get the pot warmed up, not too hot. Add about a ½ cup of olive oil and “sweat” the onions. You want the onions to turn clear but not browned. Keep stirring with a wooden spoon.
When the onions are clear add everything else, except the basil, all together at once: chopped tomatoes, reserved tomato liquid, milk, and chicken base. You can add fresh ground pepper if you want. I use about 1 or 2 tablespoons of freshly ground pepper. If you don’t have a pepper mill get one. Like brands of canned tomatoes the difference is night and day between fresh ground pepper and the stuff in a shaker jar. Stir this until it is uniformly mixed. The milk should change the color to a slightly creamy pink color. If yours is still “tomato red” add a little more milk.
Bring this to a boil and then turn it down to a low simmer. Watch the pot for a bit as the temperature drops. You want occasional bubbles to rise to the surface but you don’t want it simmer so hard that it is splashing out of the pot.
Once you have the temperature correct you can let it go and move onto something else, but you’ll need to stir this about every 15 or 20 minutes. As it cooks and thickens (as the flavors are concentrated as the water evaporates) it will stick to the bottom and burn. When you stir it use a wooden spoon to really scrape the bottom of the pot. If you feel it sticking a little just work it loose with the spoon.
Step 5: Are we done yet?
Only you will be able to tell when it’s done. Your pot, the amount of liquid from the tomatoes, the amount of milk used, your stove, the temperature of you simmer will be different than mine. To give you and idea I usually cook mine for between 7 and 10 hours. This is a long-term commitment love affair and the main reason why I make a large batch. It’s done when it’s a little thicker than any commercial sauce you’ve bought. When done add the chopped basil. Adding the basil at the end will keep its “fresh” flavor.
Step 6: Cool it
When done I place the entire pot in the sink. I empty the ice maker into the sink and fill it with cold water being careful not to get water into the pot. Stir it! It will cool quicker if you stir it often. When it’s cold (not cool) I freeze it. It’s that simple.
Step 7 - Optional: Build onto what you made
You’ve got the basic sauce done and you agree it is wonder of the world. Now it’s time to take it to the next step and make a secondary sauce or two. After making a batch of pomodoro I usually turn 1 quart into marinara and another quart into pizza sauce.
Pizza Sauce: The makes less than a half cup but should be enough for a quart of pizza sauce. I freeze pizza sauce in 1 cup portions, about enough for one pizza each. Mix the following into a quart of pomodoro sauce:
- 2 tsp dried oregano or marjoram
- 1 Tbl dried basil
- 1/2 Tbl onion powder
- 1/2 Tbl garlic powder
- 1/2 Tbl dried thyme leaves (not ground thyme)
- 1 Tbl fennel seeds (toasted and ground) *
- 1/2 Tbl paprika
- 1/2 Tbl fresh ground black pepper
* I keep an electric coffee mill just for spices or use a mortar and pestle
Marinara Sauce: This is great for dipping garlic bread or calamari, or as a pasta sauce on its own.
- 4 shallots, minced
- 15 whole anchovy fillets with their oil
- 8 or 10 large cloves of garlic, diced (not too small as it gets bitter)
- 1 tsp red pepper flakes
Sweat the shallots, anchovy, and garlic in a little olive oil. Don’t let it burn. Use a low heat, take your time, and keep stirring. Use a wooden spoon to “mash” the anchovies. You don’t want to make anchovy puree, larger pieces are a good thing! The shallots will release their water content at a low heat. Keep cooking until the water has evaporated and the shallots are clear. Add the red pepper flakes and stir for another minute. This step is done when you sniff the vapor coming out of the pot and the pepper oils have been released and your throat closes! Add the pomodoro sauce and bring to a boil. It’s done as soon as it boils. Use immediately or cool and freeze.
