Hi, All. My home-grown tomatoes finally decided to come on hot and heavy in September (that’s what I get trying heirloom varieties in Seattle) and, now that the weather has cooled considerably, I’d like to make use of what ripe fruits I have left on the vines. I’ve already canned a ton (different variety), so I’m thinking of making a basic marinara sauce from these and would like tips. I don’t plan to can it but, rather, freeze a couple of batches. The tomatoes are very sweet, so tips with regard to amount of sugar to add (if any…most recipes do have you add some sugar), and what type of acidity to add (again, leading with flavor since I don’t want the acidity for canning purposes…the whole botulism thing), how you feel about adding fresh herbs, and any texture tips. I’ve only ever made sauce from canned tomatoes, so this is new for me.
Super basic is just olive oil, get the garlic fragrant, peeled tomatoes in and a couple sprigs of basil. Pull the basil out after it’s fully ‘cooked’, and I use an immersion blender to get it to sauce consistency, add salt. Works well on so many dishes, easy afterward to add meats, meatballs, or just use in a chicken/veal parmesan dish as is
We’re in same boat with a load of cherry tomatoes and some Old German variety. Marcella Hazan’s is a great sauce, but you may want to keep it simpler. Below is what we’ve been doing this season.
Ingredients -
Tomatoes - leave cherry tom’s whole, core/chop larger ones, no need to peel
Red pepper flakes
Chopped garlic
Chopped herbs - basil, oregano and whatever else you have garden that will go with this.
Grated parm
Pour some decent olive oil into large bottomed pan, add crushed red pepper flakes and start heating over med flame - once oil is hot, add chopped garlic, let that saute a bit - this really helps flavor the oil. Tip in all the tomatoes and let it cook until the cherry tom’s burst. Adjust heat as needed.
Use immersion blender or tip everything into a blender and puree. Pour back into pot over low-med heat. Add fresh chopped herbs and grated parm, heat through stirring a bit. Season w/ salt pepper if needed and if you want, add a little bit of sugar and taste, adjusting as needed. I see a rule of thumb for sugar is to add 1 tsp per pint of sauce.
In one variation, I even tossed in a small parm rind and just let that melt in there, was tasty.
Good stuff so far, thank you all. I’ve not made that Hazan recipe and it sounds great, but more so if I was turning around and using it right then. I plan to freeze this stuff, so I worry the “freshness” might fade a bit rendering such a simple sauce such as her a little less desirable that one with a bit more flavor from garlic and basil. That said, I’m only guessing.
I like to pressure cook the 1/4’ed tomatoes for 5 min and then separate the nearly clear tomato water (saved for other uses) and process the tomato pulp in a food mill to remove the seeds and skins. From here I can freeze the components or proceed to make a sauce.
The only time I add sugar is when using canned tomatoes, which have been acidified to be shelf stable as part of the canning process. In that regard I wouldn’t feel the need to add acidity if you don’t intend to can.
I can’t imagine ever adding sugar to a marinara made from beautiful home-grown tomatoes that doesn’t intend to be canned. I’d simply taste the sauce as I was preparing it and see if I felt like it needed it.
That said, a tiny splash of quality balsamic will add amazing depth to the sauce without being noticeable. If you wanted to add some sugar to offset that, sure. Some great suggestions above about getting the sweetness from carrots instead of adding sugar - that’s my go-to as well, I feel a need to sweeten things.
Unless you need it to be vegan, Parmesan or Pecorino rinds are essential.
Riffing on this, if you want a Sunday Gravy style sauce just add a browned mirepoix set to the simple marinara with some stew beef and/or crumbled sausage and simmer for a couple of hours. I like some Sicilian oregano in there with the basil.
I do something similar, but roast the tomatoes off in a hot oven (425 for 20 minutes) which adds a carmelized note (not typical marinara, but delicious)
This is essentially what we do b/c we’re going to eat it for dinner. I add some browned spicy Italian sausage in the end top with generous amounts of finely grated parm. I forgot that I also add a tablespoon or two of tomato sauce (Mutti tube always in fridge).
Adding carrot is a great idea to gain some sweetness and vegetal backbone.
Not for canning, but if you’ve not yet made Marcella Hazan’s Bolognese Sauce, can highly recommend.
Kind of seems like a heavy handed way to arrive at a concasse? But maybe that method makes sense if you are making a vat for a restaurant or something.
I definitely agree that you want to concasse fresh tomatoes before putting them in a sauce. Seeds and skins are no bueno.
typically around 10-15 pounds of tomatoes.
FWIW, what I’m doing is nothing like a concasse
I’m separating the tomato pulp from the tomato water for a concentrated base for a sauce.
I prefer pork rather than beef for Sunday gravy. My son in law makes a great version with sweet and hot sausages; Ottomanelli throws in a few pork rib bones for flavor. And cheese rind is a requirement!
If you have a chinois it’s great for a no seed sauce but it’ll make it a smooth consistency. I like to fry the garlic and remove it, an add it back in at the end. The flavor tends to bleed out and disappear if you leave it in the simmering sauce for hours. I’d never add sugar or butter to marinara. The typical Sunday sauce growing up had tomato paste, dry oregano, basil, wine, onion, then browned meatballs and sausage added and simmered for several hours. When I see simple 3-4 ingredient recipes I think pomodoro instead of marinara.