I’ve been experimenting with different pasta sauces the past two weeks and wanted to share my progress.
There are many articles/videos that review and rank popular US canned tomato brands/types. Unfortunately, I’m in Canada so we don’t get a lot of the popular US tomato brands here. So I decided to try and pick a favorite canned tomato myself. I think I’ve finally settled on a recipe and canned tomato after eating a ton of pasta.
As an Italian I don’t really know/have never tried this recipe, so I won’t comment it besides the fact that looks good. One thing I would recommend though is to finish the cooking of the pasta in a pan within the boiling sauce, rather than putting the sauce on top of the cooked pasta. It really helps blending the tastes together and let pasta absorb the sauce, you should try it!
I have recently adopted this, absolute game changer.
What I found makes it even better is to shovel the pasta directly from the pot into the sauce, getting little amounts of pasta water with it. I guess it’s the same taking half a ladle of pasta water shortly before it’s finished and add it to the sauce, the starch helping to bind the sauce
How has nobody asked for the recipe yet?
Spill the beans!
The recipe I used is an amalgamation of several recipes with adjustments from my own taste preferences and experience.
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1uFZ7McR-3COi8rqLEHdAOF5Ilfjq0nC4az85PGS8GbQ/edit?usp=drivesdk
Thanks for the recipe! I hope you don’t mind me posting it directly in case the google docs disappears…
Some random Italian pasta sauce recipe
Ingredients
4 - 28oz cans San Marzano Peeled Tomatoes (whole or blended depending on whether you like chunky or smooth, you can also blend 3 cans and add the last one whole for a mix) (tip for shopping for these: prefer DOP if you can afford it and also look for cans with the LEAST amount of ingredients, san marzano “style” is fine) (if the canned tomatoes you buy has calcium chloride added, PUREE IT. Calcium chloride essentially “embalms” the tomatoes making them firm and difficult to break down naturally, ie from heat) 1 - 6oz can tomato paste 1 tsp salt 1 tsp black pepper 1 tsp dry basil 1 tsp dry parsley 1 tsp dry thyme 1 tsp crushed red pepper 1 small/medium yellow onion. Minced. 1 head garlic. Minced. ½ cup extra-virgin olive oil (add between 3 tbsp to up to an entire cup, I like my sauce a bit oilier so I add more) ½ cup red wine (Cabernets or Pinot Noir) (optional) 1 tsp crushed red pepper 2 - 3 bay leaves Parmesan rind (optional)Instructions
Heat olive oil in a pot on medium-low. Then add the onions. Cook until onions are translucent. Add garlic and sauté for 30-60 seconds. Stir constantly to keep garlic from burning. Add tomato paste and stir until onion, garlic, tomato paste mixture is uniform. Add all 4 cans of tomatoes into the pot. Add red wine, salt, crushed red pepper, black pepper and bay leaves. Mix well. Partially cover with lid, and simmer on LOW heat for 2+ hours. Stir every so often to avoid burning. Note: if using a parmesan rind, add it in this step and let it simmer with sauce until finished. Remove and discard rind when ready to serve. Near the 2 hour mark, add basil, parsley and thyme. Remove bay leaves and discard. Mix and taste. Season with additional salt & black pepper if needed.Bonus
Store & keep fresh: Let sauce cool to room temperature then store in an airtight container or glass jars. Chill in the refrigerator for up to 5 - 7 days.
How to freeze: First, let the sauce cool to room temperature – then store in an airtight container or ziplock freezer bag. Freeze for up to 3 to 4 months
Here’s the recipe without the code formatting that makes it impossible to read:
Ingredients:
- 4 - 28oz cans San Marzano Peeled Tomatoes (whole or blended depending on whether you like chunky or smooth, you can also blend 3 cans and add the last one whole for a mix) (tip for shopping for these: prefer DOP if you can afford it and also look for cans with the LEAST amount of ingredients, san marzano “style” is fine) (if the canned tomatoes you buy has calcium chloride added, PUREE IT. Calcium chloride essentially “embalms” the tomatoes making them firm and difficult to break down naturally, ie from heat)
- 1 - 6oz can tomato paste
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp black pepper
- 1 tsp dry basil
- 1 tsp dry parsley
- 1 tsp dry thyme
- 1 tsp crushed red pepper
- 1 small/medium yellow onion. Minced.
- 1 head garlic. Minced.
- ½ cup extra-virgin olive oil (add between 3 tbsp to up to an entire cup, I like my sauce a bit oilier so I add more)
- ½ cup red wine (Cabernets or Pinot Noir) (optional)
- 1 tsp crushed red pepper
- 2 - 3 bay leaves
- Parmesan rind (optional)
Instructions:
- Heat olive oil in a pot on medium-low. Then add the onions. Cook until onions are translucent.
- Add garlic and sauté for 30-60 seconds. Stir constantly to keep garlic from burning.
- Add tomato paste and stir until onion, garlic, tomato paste mixture is uniform.
- Add all 4 cans of tomatoes into the pot. Add red wine, salt, crushed red pepper, black pepper and bay leaves. Mix well. Partially cover with lid, and simmer on LOW heat for 2+ hours. Stir every so often to avoid burning. Note: if using a parmesan rind, add it in this step and let it simmer with sauce until finished. Remove and discard rind when ready to serve.
- Near the 2 hour mark, add basil, parsley and thyme. Remove bay leaves and discard. Mix and taste. Season with additional salt & black pepper if needed.
Not at all!
It needs oregano and meat. Maybe some paprika and and more of the spices mentioned. Also, most San Marzano tomatoes are fake. They’re not actually made in the volcanic soil outside Napoli. You can use any good quality tomatoes. Just use a good crushed tomato and save yourself time.
The secret of Italian food is to use basic fresh ingredients and cook them well. You don’t need special imported tomatoes from Italy. Maybe just the cheese. Everything else is at your farmer’s market.
I found that, unsurprisingly, the pasta sauce is highly subjective. That’s why I went out and bought 4 different cans and made it 4 times. I then taste tested each. I also let my husband taste them as well.
For me, what I found was I liked the DOP one the most, because it felt the most balanced. My husband on the other hand preferred the Mutti peeled tomatoes which I thought was a touch on the sour side. However this wasn’t surprising to me because he liked sour. I think in the end you really just need to try it yourself and see what tastes best to you.
All that said, my choice of tomatoes is probably the Mutti in the end because while the DOP one tastes best it was also more than 2x the price of the Mutti. And I just don’t think the taste is worth 2x the price.
God damn that looks good! 😍
Thank you!
This photo looks like something straight out of a cookbook! It looks really tasty OP :)
Thanks!
That is gorgeous. May I ask what camera you used?
Just my phone camera. A Pixel 5.
Noice!
