How do you make the best marinara sauce?
There's always room for improvement in my cooking...I'd like to work on perfecting a marinara sauce. What's your recipe? Secret ingredients? Cooking & storing time? When completed, what pasta do you serve?
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22 Comments:
I learned from an old boyfriend's Italian great-grandmother - the source of all sources!
Add a pinch of sugar to counter the acidity of the tomatoes.
Steamy Kitchen at 8:00AM on 12/28/07
sugar?!?! never!
heat olive oil
saute garlic with a couple anchovy filets
brown meats (sausage, meatballs), remove.
add 1 part tomato paste to oil, mix until smooth.
add 4 parts tomato puree, 6 parts crushed tomatoes, 8 parts tomato sauce, stir frequently.
spice to taste, oregano, salt, red & black pepper, parsley, red wine.
reintroduce meat, simmer low & covered until smooth and homogenous. keep stirring. dip bread as you go and enjoy as a snack.
goodbyeohio at 8:19AM on 12/28/07
Saute sliced garlic cloves and minced anchovy filets in hot olive oil til anchovies disappear. add a good sized pinch of crushed red pepper flakes. cook a minute or so. add 1 cup dry white wine and reduce by half. add 2 cups diced organic tomatoes, drained and bring to boil. Reduce heat to simmer and cook for 10 minutes or so. right before serving add 1/4 cup chopped fresh Italian parsley and 1/4 cup chopped fresh basil. season with coarse salt and freshly ground pepper.
great basic sauce.
MaryColeman at 8:37AM on 12/28/07
Everybody has their particular flavor profile that they like, but I appreciate a simple marinara, so I go with Marcella Hazan's recipe and toss in a chiffonade of basil just before serving.
Honestly, the key is to use really great tomatoes. Personally, I like the Pomi brand (they come in a box instead of a can) -- the only ingredient listed is "tomatoes" and they are really well balanced and possess a deep tomato flavor. If you use bargain basement tomatoes, you'll end up with a less-than-stellar sauce!
Dominic
the zen kitchen
dvchurch at 9:41AM on 12/28/07
JEP -- To finish answering your question, I think the perfect pasta for marinara is spaghetti, with a good dose of grated Parmesan all that is necessary to have a sublime meal.
Dominic
the zen kitchen
dvchurch at 9:55AM on 12/28/07
There is no meat in marinara sauce that is a ragu.
4 cloves of garlic chopped very fine
salt and pepper
some dried or fresh basil
2 28 ounce cans of kitchen cut/chef's cut/crushed tomatoes italian style
OR 1.75 pounds of ripe roma tomatoes (skin in boiled water and then dice)
splash of wine (one that tastes good to you)
grated cheese of your choice
saute your garlic
add your tomatoes
splash the wine in
add salt, pepper and basil
put your pasta to the boil
bring sauce to a boil then drop to simmer
when your pasta is ready toss with sauce and grated cheese all over it
mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm
JerzeeTomato at 10:15AM on 12/28/07
The best marinara is really simple. Let's get this out of the way... NO MEAT. There is a Papa John's commercial running right now featuring "Meaty Marinara!" I scream loudly at the TV when this commercial is on (even louder than when Sandra Lee is on, and that's saying something).
Basic Marinara
(Small quantity)
2 Tbsp. Olive oil
1 small onion, diced
2-6 Cloves Garlic, chopped
2 Oz. or so white wine (NOT "cooking wine")
2 28 ounce cans Whole Peeled San Marzano Tomatoes
2-6 Leaves of Fresh Basil, cut into a chiffonade
S&P to taste
(Crushed Red Pepper)
In a saucepan large enough to hold all ingredients, heat olive oil over medium heat. Add garlic and onions and saute until fragrant, soft but not browned, around one minute. Add white wine and cook until almost all the liquid is evaporated. Add one can of the peeled tomatoes, breaking them with a wooden spoon. Blend the other can of tomatoes in a blender and add to the saucepan. Add the chiffonade of basil and stir. Sprinkle in S&P to taste. If desired, add 1 tsp. of crushed red pepper for a little kick.
Simmer the sauce on med/low heat until it changes color, about 10 minutes. It's done at this point and ready to be spooned over hot pasta. Marinara is not long-cooked like a ragu - it should taste fresh without being too complex.
If you like, you can turn this into puttanesca by adding pitted calamata or gaeta olives, 1 tsp. of anchovy paste and about 12 capers (that have been rinsed of salt). You can also add about 1 lb. raw sliced calamari for a quick seafood sauce. In either case, simmer another 10 minutes or so.
I do not add oregano to marinara because it become pizza sauce.
chiff0nade at 10:38AM on 12/28/07
Chiff0nade's recipe is virtually identical to mine, which I learned from my mother. With one distinct difference. Carrots. The little Italian grandma who taught my mother to make marinara, ragu, etc., always advised to spare no expense, and use the best quality tomatoes available, whether fresh or canned. She also was adamant that adding shredded or pureed carrots was necessary for all tomato-based sauces. The quantity depended on the tartness of the tomatoes, because the carrots were added to temper their acid by adding a touch of sweetness. They also help thicken the sauce a bit and add a je ne c'est quoi flavor to the sauce (wrong language, I know).
My trick when I'm in a hurry is to use canned unsalted carrots -- already cooked, I can mash them by hand if there's no time to run the whole thing through a food mill, and the flavor issue is irrelevant in tomato sauce.
LoCo at 11:05AM on 12/28/07
My famous (okay, only to my family and friends...) marinara recipe can be found here, at my blog. It's called "Spaghetti Bolognese" because I added ground turkey at the request of my husband. Just leave the meat out, like chiff0nade states above. Marinara sauce should never have meat. My marinara sauce differs from most peoples' in that I add just a bit of heavy cream during cooking, but not much. It just gives it a hint of creaminess that people really seem to love. :)
sheeats at 11:13AM on 12/28/07
I make marinara on a weekly basis and I am with JerzeeTomato and Chiff0nade: No meat and relatively quick cooking. I follow something like Chiff0nade's recipe - saute, then wine, then tomatoes, except I do oregano in winter, basil in spring or summer. Oh yeah, I will use anchovies if I have some good ones...
HunterAnglerGardenerCook at 11:38AM on 12/28/07
I like to add a cup or so of quality red wine to the sauce.
Kelly
Kelly Spitzer at 12:55PM on 12/28/07
As always, when it come to Italian food I go to Batali and Bastianich for guidance first. Then I take what I like from these original sources and make my own.
Mario has a recipe here on Serious Eats. And Lydia's is here. While not identical, their recipes are both simple, basic sauces. Minimal seasoning, some basil or oregano, salt & pepper. Lydia uses garlic only, Mario just onion & carrot. But the important thing to note is what they have in common: a quick cooked tomato sauce with no meat.
My version is closer to Lydia but I take a few flavor notes from Mario. I'm not a big fan of onion, so I add a little finely minced shallot in with the garlic. If I have it, a touch of grated carrot for sweetness. Fresh tomatoes are good if they are in season. But most of the time it is San Marzano tomatoes, unless I can't get them. Then I use a good organic brand. 30 minutes from can to table. Tops.
kjgibson at 1:14PM on 12/28/07
Thanks everyone for great tips, recipes & links! I feel like I have my own personal chef explaining the best techniques & recommending ingredients as well as sharing cooking secrets! SE community is THE BEST.
JEP at 5:19PM on 12/28/07
JEP I agree.
Anchovy fillets! Can't wait to try that addition.
Just curious - do you ever serve any meat dish alongside? Wondering about chicken parm. I pour a little marinara over the chicken, but don't cook it in the sauce.
PerkyMac at 6:29PM on 12/28/07
sugar?!?! never!
How did I miss this?????? Absolutely never, ever. Sugar does not belong in tomato sauce and was originally put in when the tomatoes were less than stellar. There's no need to do that now with tomatoes plentiful during their season and canned in non-season. It's an abomination to put sugar in tomato sauce.
chiff0nade at 6:40PM on 12/28/07
@Dom I can't use those Pomi they have a odd taste to me (metallic). They are pasturized and to me they cook the living daylights out of them. When I was to make a great marinara I go buy some romas and peel them. Reminds me of tomato season and my home canned with basil.
JerzeeTomato at 7:05AM on 12/29/07
@Jerzee -- too odd, i find the canned stuff to taste metallic :-) A case of beauty being in the tongue of the beholder, methinks! I have to admit that I am one of the few Italians on the planet with an aversion to raw tomatoes, so perhaps it's the cooked flavor that I find appealing?
Best wishes for a happy and healthy New Year!
dvchurch at 9:02AM on 12/29/07
My sauce is too simple for most I think, canned tomatoes (good brand) roasted garlic to me adds the sweetness my mother used to get from sugar. and about the only herb I use in my sauce is Fresh basil, I also add mushroom powder, (dehydrate your portobellos or whatever and then grind them to powder) I think the powder adds a nice earthiness to the sauce. Also I dont cook it very long, just enough to "bring it together".
huney_bumper at 10:45AM on 12/29/07
mine is basically the same as chiff0nade, except add 1 bulb of fennel, 2 green peppers, and puree it after 2 hours. it freezes well, but you probably won't have any left.
beth1 at 12:12AM on 12/30/07
I really like the basic tomato sauce recipe Amateur Gourmet talks about in the first chapter of his book "How to shop, chop, and table hop like a pro (almost)". I think Orangette has the recipe on her site somewhere.
Hillary
Chew on That
Chew on That at 5:51PM on 01/04/08
Hillary---I agree about AG's sauce chapter...well, the entire book was delightful to read (& re-read)!
JEP at 5:58PM on 01/04/08
I'm on the side of simple, fresh, quick, bright flavors for marinara. For a different kind of tomato sauce, roasted garlic or red wine might be ok, but I think marinara should be bright and light and elemental (onion, garlic, tomato, s/p, basil and or parsley). And preferably no cheese, because I like it best with shellfish and linguine. But without the seafood, yes, cheese.
renzata at 6:25PM on 01/04/08