Do you a have special Tomato sauce recipe??

[suziking]

I have tomato on the brain today! Please excuse me ...

What is your favorite tomato sauce recipe? I had a friend make this amazing tomato sauce recipe with fresh basil. I don't have it - I thought I would remember it - that is a joke.

I would love to hear any ideas. Thanks. - Suzi

[Ohioan]

I don't really have a recipe, so much as a method. (Note: this is a vegetarian version. Instructions for meat sauce follow.) Mostly, I saute a few garlic clove halves in a bit of olive oil (just a few drops, really); then add crushed or pureed tomatoes; throw in some salt, black and red pepper, basil, oregano, marjoram, and a bay leaf; water everything down until it looks way too thin; and cook the pants off it for five or more hours, stirring it up every hour or so and adding water as necessary toward the end because it'll have cooked down to a rich, deep, thick, yummy sauce.

The secret is in the loooong cooking. The longer it cooks, the richer the flavor gets.

For a meat sauce, start off by sauteeing the meat along with the garlic, until it's brown on all sides. When I ate meat, I used to use a chunk of round or flank steak plus a pork chop or two, and sometimes some Italian sausage. Start skimming the fat off the surface of the sauce at the one-hour mark, and keep skimming as the sauce cooks. By the end of the cooking, there probably won't be any fat left to skim.

For more on the subject, see our discussion at:
http://www.cookinglight.com/vbb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1827&highlight=tomato+and+sauce

Cheers,
Phoebe

[Gail]

I'm curious, Phoebe...

Your method sounds much like mine, but I don't use marjoram as a rule. Marjoram is one of those spices I just tend never to think of, for some reason... Proportionally, how does the amount of marjoram you use stack up to the other herbs?

Also, when you're talking red pepper, do you mean the dried, crushed red pepper?

[AD]

I don't care for herbs, spices or seasonings and detest garlic! I make a quick sauce by mixing half of a 6-oz. can of tomato paste with a 15-oz. can of crushed tomatoes. Then I stir in some basil, the only herb I like. Luckily, for me, easier tastes better! :)

[SandyM]

I also basically follow Phoebe's recipe (and yes Gail, I used crushed red pepper, and like you, have never thought to toss in marjoram).

I do, however, add a pinch of brown sugar (and I do mean just a pinch) to cut down on the acidity.

My problem is keeping the top of the stove relatively clean while cooking this stuff down (on an extremely low heat) for hours. You can't cover it, or it doesn't cook down (that's been my experience, though - correct me if I'm wrong) so I have a white stovetop with red polkadots splattered all over it.

Is that just considered a job hazard? :cool:

[lorilei]

Gail -
I just had to respond to your question about marjoram, because I always had the same question. I stock two different kinds of Oregano in my pantry (Greek and Mexican), but haven't used marjoram for years. Never really knew why.

And then I spent part of a day with some women from the Herb Society of WI... As it turns out, they're in the same family of plants. They have almost the same flavor (we did some taste testing) and some varieties of the plants are almost indiscernable. The main difference between most oreganos and marjoram is that marjoram tends to have a more delicate flavor. Greek oregano can substitute for marjoram in almost any recipe -- if you remember to use it in moderation.

To give you more information than you EVER wished to know, here's a bit on the legendary roots of marjoram and oregano:

According to Greek mythology, the king of Cyprus had a servant called Amarakos, who dropped a jar of perfume and fainted in terror. As his punishment the gods changed him into oregano, after which, if it was found growing on
a burial tomb, all was believed well with the dead. Venus was supposedly the first to grow the herb in her garden.

The Greeks and Romans used it not only as scent after taking a bath and as a massage oil, but also as a disinfectant and preservative. More than likely they were responsible for the spread of this plant across Europe, where it became known as marjoram.

Sweet marjoram was introduced into Europe in the Middle Ages. Its leaves were placed in nosegays and rubbed over heavy oak furniture and floors to give a fragrant polish. In stormy weather, dairymaids would place marjoram by pails of fresh milk in the belief that this plant would preserve its sweetness.

For a long time, common marjoram was called "wild marjoram" in America, but is now more often known as oregano.

Info taken, as I remember it, from our conversation.

[Leslie w]

I've posted this recipe before. It's always been a hit w/ my family and friends. It can be used on everything, from pizza to lasagna... Takes 10 min to prep and I let it simmer on the stove for a couple of hours with the lid slightly off the pot, to allow moisture to escape without splattering the stove.

Saute one med diced onion in a little bit of olive oil til translucent.

Add 4 cloves minced garlic, stir a min. Don't burn garlic.

Pour in 1- 28oz can crushed tomatoes in puree, and 1- 28oz can diced tomatoes.

Add 3 tsp of dried basil and 1/4 tsp of baking soda.

Let simmer as long as you like. Sometimes I throw in precooked sausage or meatballs which adds a nice flavor to the sauce, but its also good on its own. This sauce always tastes best the next day. I also will put in an extra tsp of basil before serving on spagetti as I LOVE basil.

[Ohioan]

I'm not sure why I use marjoram, except that it runs in my family.;) Maybe it's a way of adding more oregano taste without the sharpness of the extra oregano (and yes, I use the Greek or Turkish oregano). I toss the herbs in by feel rather than by measurement, but I'd say the ratio of basil to oregano to marjoram is probably 4:2:1. Oh, and yes, I used the crushed red pepper and cracked black pepper.

SandyM - Don't try to keep the stove clean. It's impossible. Newton's 25th law of thermodynamics states that stovetops develop red polka dots in proportion to the volume of sauce being cooked times the length of time cooking. :D This holds true even when the pot is covered throughout (I keep my pot covered and still get a nicely cooked-down sauce). Eventually, you have to lift the lid to stir the sauce, and then all the accumulated polka dots jump out.

Investigative reporters swear they've photographed little sauce drops jostling and pushing in line at the top of the pot just before the lid is lifted, many of them shouting, "Stay in place! who the **** do you think you are? There's room on the stove for everyone!" But the cameras have all been destroyed in the ensuing stampedes from the pots, so the reporters' claims cannot be verified at the present time.

Oh, and it doesn't matter how deep a pot you cook the sauce in. The sauce drops have ladders and trampolines.

Cheers,
Phoebe

[Gail]

Tee hee!

Thank you, Phoebe, for responding in such a colorful fashion. ... and I learned something about those little ladders...

Thanks, Lori, for filling me in as well-- and for the oregano myth. By the way, we myth hearing from you so frequently around here. (ugh.)

Sandy, I also cover my sauce while it's simmering. You could try one of those flat, mesh thingies which allow air circulation but keep much of the mess from splattering-- but even then there are those renegade droplets which manage to weasel their way through and out into the cooktop. And you still have to stir now and then with the results Phoebe cites. Or there are those splatter screens that you prop up around three sides of your pot like you're preserving its modesty. Both of these items work fairly well, but after reading Phoebe's post, I say sing a chorus of "Born Free" nice and loud and let those droplets go for it!

[Wendy w]

I have posted this a couple of times in the past. I used to make marinara with everything but the kitchen sink in it until I got this recipe. This marinara sauce is so easy and delicious-with only a few ingredients.

My aunt got it from one of her oldest and dearest friends who grew up in Italy. There are no exact proportions for this so you can add as much or as little of something as desired.

I like to make a large batch of this when I do make it as it freezes well and makes a great pizza sauce !

The secret to success is cooking the onions, garlic, tomato paste together until almost burnt. This creates a roasted type of flavor.

Sandy, Phoebe is so right! I used to obsess about tomato splatter and found it to be a lost cause.

Rose Sutter's Marinara Sauce

chopped onion
minced garlic
tomato paste
tomato sauce (use larger can than the tomato paste)
1 can of water (use the tomato sauce can)
Pecorino Romano (I like this best, but you can use parmesan or asiago if you want)

Saute the onion and garlic in saucepan until translucent, add the tomato paste and cook until almost burnt (it will become "crispy").

Add canned tomato sauce and one can of water, bring to boil, simmer 30 minutes stirring occasionally. Add Pecorino Romano. Use over a medium shaped pasta like moscatoli.

Enjoy!

[SandyM]

Good point, Gail & Phoebe.

Free The Spaghetti Sauce Polka-Dots!!!!

Sorry. Extremely lame attempt at humor. I'm fighting with an unscrupulous vet right now.

[emilycat]

Phoebe, you are such a trip. Thank you so much for that riotous post.

I don't know, but for some reason, personifying inanimate objects highly amuses me -- I think it may come from years of believing that after I left my room, all of my stuffed animals would throw parties in my absence. :D

[jazzcat]

Emily, I'm with you. I laughed so hard reading Phoebe's post. It is true, there is no way to keep those "red dots" from "getting out" so why even try! LOL

[brendat4]

I've been meaning to post about this anyway and here comes your post! The Tomato Sauce from Cooking Light's April 2000 issue is excellent! Last year, after more than 6 years of marriage my husband one day told me that my homemade sauce was not his favorite. I think it's because he saw me putting sugar in it and that bothered hime. I was crushed as this was what my mom made and he'd always eaten it before! Plus, that sauce was like a staple in my diet (I am a spaghetti and sauce fiend!) so it was really personal.

So I was on a quest to find a new sauce that satisfied us both. Along came the CL "cooking class" series with April highlighting how to make sauces. I tried their Tomato Sauce and it was a huge hit! I think it is the combination of bell peppers, onions and garlic that make it taste so good. It is the only thing I make now and it is SOOOOO easy! I usually make up a bunch to have on hand in the freezer I've also made the accompanying recipe Baked Rigatoni with Beef numerous times and it too is super easy. I even made it for a neighbor who had a baby recently and they loved it too (even their 3 year old!) and requested the recipe. And she doesn't cook much of anything, ever!

So, if you're looking for a really good tomato sauce, I'd recommend this one. That's my .02!