I’ll start by saying that I’ve never really been a fan of tomatoes – I’m not a picky eater (pretty much everything else under the sun is fair game) but the sweet/acidic ‘twang of traditional spaghetti sauce is particularly unappetizing to me.
Last time my wife and I were in the Monterey area, we had dinner at a little hole-in-the-wall spot called Alberto’s in Pacific Grove. And as it turns-out, Alberto used to be Frank Sinatra’s private chef in his glory days… The food was amazing – but the biggest surprise was the dish that my wife ordered, Penne with sausage in a light red sauce. It was awesome! The sauce was very light – not a lot of acidity and more savory than sweet. I kept stealing bites from her plate, because I was so amazed by how much I liked it!
So I need your help! If you were going to attempt to make a similar sauce, how would you do something like this?? The waiter stressed that everything was fresh – not out of a can…
Doubt it since he said the sauce doesn’t have a lot of acidity…
Mike, you can make your own sauce using fresh, ripe tomatoes that are really, really high quality. Don’t know if you live somewhere where you can get that.
Slice the tomatoes in half, scoop out the seeds, and place on a baking tray cut side up. Sprinkle with salt, EVOO, chopped garlic, and a basil leaf in each slice (or to taste). Slow-roast in an oven for 2 hours until they’re really well done. The tomatoes will be quite sweet now. Place in pan and toss with pasta and a bit of pasta water and thats your sauce.
Or start from scratch with canned San Marzanos, garlic, onion if you wish, and basil. Slowly reduce. I love acid in my sauce so I add a cup of white wine. I use this as a base and then add meat, make bolognese, wild boar, oxtail, etc. Very versatile, but there is a fair bit of acid. You can add sugar as many folks do to tame it, but I don’t do that.
Mike,
It could have also been a combination of Alfredo Sauce w/some tomato sauce in it, easily made fresh. I put these together and it’s a great combo, with a pinch of garlic. The two together aren’t acidic and has great flavor, add sausage and Voila !
With all due respect to Aaron, that’s the opposite of light and fresh. That makes a very deep, earthy tomato sauce. Delicious, but different. It’s actually how I start tomato bisque.
I’m with Linda on this one. When I have good fresh tomatoes in the summer, I rinse them and drop them into boiling water for a few seconds just to loosen the peel. Then I peel them and chop them on a board with a rim so it catches all the juices. You can get rid of the seeds by doing this in a food mill instead, but I like the seeds. You can also strain off some of the liquid depending on how you want to use the sauce. Sauté some minced garlic in olive oil just until it’s fragrant, not at all brown, add the tomatoes, a pinch of kosher salt, a few whole basil leaves, and let them simmer briefly. Taste. If it’s too acidic, a tiny pinch of sugar will fix it. I fish out the spent basil leaves and add fresh basil to the finished dish.
Cooking for long periods concentrates tomato flavor. This is NOT what I want in a fresh tomato sauce. Adding tomato paste thickens a sauce, but the trade-off is that you lose any semblance of lightness and freshness.
I wouldn’t. The blender incorporates too much air and will give you a fluffy pink tomato smoothie. A food processor is better, and that’s exactly how I do my tomatoes when I make pizza. Pulse carefully, though. You want them smooth, but not at all soupy.
I’m no tomato expert so I can’t name any varieties off the bat, but as with any agricultural product, growing conditions can play a role in addition to variety.
Not overcooking the sauce can help also. The longer the cooking time, the more concentrated any of the flavors will become.
Just like grapes, the ripeness will determine the sugar levels (along with the variety as Linda pointed out). Thats why I use San Marzano, the king of tomatoes. They are naturally sweet and delicious. If you just use the fruit (not the juice its in) you will end up with a sweeter / lower acid sauce. I throw in the juice and reduce it low and slow.
You can always correct with adding sugar, there’s nothing wrong with it at all. I’d use brown sugar instead of refined white.
When people say “fresh tomato sauce” or “light” I don’t think it has anything to do with how long the tomatoes are cooked. Rather, its the brightness of the flavors. How tomato-ey the sauce is. And of course there wouldn’t be any cream since thats the antithesis of light, unless light referred to the color of the sauce. Light as in pink.
Anyway, Mike has a bunch of ideas and can experiment and let us know which is closest to what he experienced. In the end its most likely that the freshness and ripeness contributed most to the amazingness of the dish, rather than exactly how it was prepared.
Mike, I just noticed that you live in CA - there must be amazing tomatoes grown somewhere near you. Another great sauce can be made using tiny cherry tomatoes - totally different flavor but also very light.
And I think you should try a San Marzano-based sauce if for no other reason than to taste their greatness. Really good stuff.
One of the lighter tomato sauces I make is from an old cookbook called Romagnolis’ Table. It uses fresh Roma tomatoes cooked in butter (relatively light) and has fresh basil leaves, salt and a little Parmesan added once the sauce is on the pasta (mostaccioli, ziti, rigatoni or homemade fettuccine).
Spot on with pulsing tomatoes in a processer vs. blending.
Lauren and I will be there next month so I may ask if I can get some tips then. In the mean time, I have a lot of ideas to play with. And from what I’ve been told, there are some great local tomatoes to be had when in season - hopefully I can find a formula that agrees with my palate so that I can take advantage.
While last night’s experiment wasn’t 100% like the restaurant dish that I was trying to emulate, I managed to be successful in creating a sauce that was ‘light’ in the tomato flavors that I’m usually not a fan of. As a bonus, my wife was very happy because she loves tomato sauce but rarely gets it because I do much of the cooking.
I went with canned San Marzano peeled whole tomatoes that I ran through the food processor for a smooth consistency. I started by cooking sweet Italian sausage in a pan with a little white wine. After the sausage was mostly cooked, I drained the wine and let them brown. Once done I pulled the sausages and left some of the rendered fat, added some EVOO and diced onion. Once the onion was translucent I added LOTS of fresh minced garlic (5 or 6 cloves). When the garlic started to get fragrant, I added the tomatoes, red pepper flakes, fresh basil and a pinch of kosher salt and let them simmer for about 15 to 20 minutes.
While the tomatoes were simmering, I sliced-up the sausage links and then added them to the pot. Once the pasta was cooked (Rigatoni), I added it to the pot and let everything simmer together for another 3 or 4 minutes. Once plated, I topped with freshly grated parmigiano-reggiano.
The final result had a light tomato flavor that was complemented with an nice garlicky kick and a touch of spice from the pepper flakes. It was doable for me (which is not a normal for any tomato-based sauce), and my wife loved it. While this is probably not something that I will crave in the future, I can’t wait to make it for family members that know about my long-term hatred of tomatoes!
Thanks again for everyone’s help! I think we can call this experiment a success!
In Italian cooking as in life, the simplest approach is usually the best.
I would have done similar. My change would have been cooking the sausages, after cutting into 3 or 4 pieces each, in the garlic, then removing and deglazing with wine for a bit, then adding the rest as you did. This sauce needs only to be brought to heated temp and then served.
When done right you would be hard pressed to discern great quality canned san marzanos from fresh plum.
It sounds like the “gravy” sauce I make.
Use over ripe tomatoes ( that eliminates much of the acid you mention) and make sure that you remove almost all of the seeds. That removes the tart. Tomoto seeds like wine seeds add tartness.