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 TheCow
Registered: 10/28/02
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Last seen: 4 months, 25 days
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 Pasta Sauce question
#8146636 - 03/14/08 04:38 PM (8 months, 15 days ago) |
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Ive been known to buy cans of whole peeled tomatoes and make my own sauce. I can get it to taste quite nice really, but I have a problem of consistency. It seems like my pasta sauce consists of two components, a watery mixture, and then my tomato/vegetable chunks. I am not sure how to get these two to combine into a nice smooth mixture that isn't watery. When I buy tomato sauce it is always a homogenous product. When I pour my sauce onto a plate I have to pour off water that has collected in the plate.
I boil my sauce down but obviously you can't boil off all the water. I am not sure really what Im doing wrong, any suggestions?
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 Cameron
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Registered: 10/31/07
Posts: 2,143
Loc: Canada
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Re: Pasta Sauce question [Re: TheCow]
#8146683 - 03/14/08 04:51 PM (8 months, 15 days ago) |
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Using a hand-held blender to blend my sauces is always very effective for me (there are specialized blenders designed for soups and sauces, but any sort of blender would work really, you could even pour your sauce into a tall blender in small amounts). After it's thoroughly blended, simmer at a slow bubble until you've reached the desired consistency. Throwing in a small amount of tomato paste is nice too.
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TheCow
Registered: 10/28/02
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Re: Pasta Sauce question [Re: Cameron]
#8146692 - 03/14/08 04:53 PM (8 months, 15 days ago) |
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Ah I was afraid of that. So blender is the only option? Or is it just an easy option
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Cameron
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Re: Pasta Sauce question [Re: TheCow]
#8146703 - 03/14/08 04:56 PM (8 months, 15 days ago) |
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It's the best option IMHO 
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Senor_Doobie
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Re: Pasta Sauce question [Re: TheCow]
#8146868 - 03/14/08 05:37 PM (8 months, 15 days ago) |
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I've been thinking about doing this but I haven't tried it.
First, remove the solid tomatoes from teh liquid.
Then make a roux, by taking 1 ounce of butter or oil, one ounce of flour per cup of however much liquid you have.
Take the butter and the flour and put them into a sauce pan over no heat. Slowly bring the heat up to medium while whisking the mixture. It will become a kind of homogonous pasty looking substance. Cook it until you no longer smell the flour, whisking constantly. Then whisk in the liquid and keep whisking until thick. Then you can add your tomato sauce.
As I said I have never actually tried that so I don't know how it would result but I'm curious as to what others might have to say about the idea.
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Senor_Doobie
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The only real problem I see with my suggestion is color.
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It is the international system of currency which determines the vitality of life on this planet. THAT is the natural order of things today. THAT is the atomic and subatomic and galactic structure of things today...There is no America; there is no democracy. There is only IBM, and ITT, and AT&T, and DuPont, Dow, Union Carbide, and Exxon. Those are the nations of the world today...
You are an old man who thinks in terms of nations and peoples. There are no nations; there are no peoples. There are no Russians. There are no Arabs. There are no third worlds. There is no West. There is only one holistic system of systems; one vast, interwoven, interacting, multivaried, multinational dominion of dollars.
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LunarEclipse
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Loc: O
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You sound like you are on your way to a nice creamy chunky tomato soup with your starting roux and then adding the whole tomato. Or try stewed tomatoes or tomato puree and you are there. Stir in a little milk at the end and voila...
As for spaghetti sauce, simmering all day makes a nice-a sauce-a justa lika my momma used to-a make-a. Now datsa Italian. Lotsa garlic and onion and mushroom makes the house-a smell good-a too. It should thicken up on it's own or like a previous poster said stir in a dollup of paste.
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Brainiac
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Re: Pasta Sauce question [Re: TheCow]
#8148930 - 03/15/08 10:27 AM (8 months, 14 days ago) |
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Try adding one or two cans of tomato paste...
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geokills
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 Re: Pasta Sauce question [Re: TheCow]
#8149989 - 03/15/08 03:30 PM (8 months, 14 days ago) |
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I generally don't use tomato paste these days, as I believe it to be an unecessary shortcut and also a bit bitter. My pasta sauce experiences aren't exactly quick, but they are consistent. If I'm using whole tomatos, I will crush 'em by hand but process at least 50% of them in my food processor, blender, or in the pan with an immersion blender. This is why I don't usually use whole tomatos anymore. Instead, I pick up a combination of canned diced tomatos and puréed tomatos. If I'm using the giant Costco 64 oz puréed tomato can, I might also add a can of plain tomato sauce, just to loosen up the sauce because the puréed tomatos I've used are really thick to begin with.
The tomato mixture is held aside, seasoned with salt, pepper, parsley, basil, oregano, and extra virgin olive oil. In the pan browns up some uncased sausage that I tear apart with me fingers, add in mushrooms, onions, ocassionally some finely chopped bell peppers, definitely some hot pepper (red pepper flakes or powdered cayenne if nothing else), letting all those ingredients fry up crispy like with some finely chopped rosemary. Then comes a handful of garlic and shortly thereafter (as not to let the garlic burn), a bit of wine to deglaze the pan and in with the tomato mixture. On top of the tomato mixture I throw in a shot of vodka and a couple tablespoons of honey for good luck. That then will simmer for at least an hour before serving.
A quick note on watery servings... though the sauce can be the culprit, I find more often than not the problem is that the pasta wasn't well drained enough. Really let that pasta drain in a strainer, then transfer to the serving dish and let it "air" for a minute just so the steam can escape and the pasta gets a nice sticky starchy coating - which will help your sauce stick to it better too.
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Brainiac
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Re: Pasta Sauce question [Re: geokills]
#8149998 - 03/15/08 03:32 PM (8 months, 14 days ago) |
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Try using a salad spinner
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I'm dyslexia, so get the fuck over it. "Ardet Nec Consumitur" (burned but not destroyed) People shouldn't be afraid of it's government.The government should be afraid of it's people..
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Cameron
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Re: Pasta Sauce question [Re: geokills]
#8150106 - 03/15/08 04:14 PM (8 months, 14 days ago) |
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Yeah (in agreement):
- Never rinse pasta after it's been cooked. This washes off all of your precious starch and a lot of taste.
- Never add oil to pasta after it's been cooked. This makes the sauce slip off of the pasta.
Also, if you find that tomato paste is too bitter, try adding it to your sauteed veggies when they're almost fully cooked (before you add liquids/tomatoes), and simmer the veggie/tomato paste mixture until it turns a rich, dark red/brown color. I find this makes for a much sweeter end product. 
Edit: That picture's making me really hungry. Looks delicious! 
Edited by Cameron (03/15/08 04:45 PM)
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LiquidSmoke
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Re: Pasta Sauce question [Re: TheCow]
#8150248 - 03/15/08 05:02 PM (8 months, 14 days ago) |
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Mario Batali has a pretty neat way of making sauce that i only recently started adopting but it works pretty well.
I used to have the same problem as theCow, but after i used his approach, i have never made a better tasting sauce.
What he does, is first chop the carrots, celery rib, and onions all in large wedges, quartering each.
He uses HOT oil, to singe the veggies in a skillet.
This is about after you'd cook up meats in the same pan to deglaze with.
He browns the vegetables a good amount with tomato paste, then he adds the red wine
reduces it for 3-5 minutes.
THEn he adds the tomatos, hand crushed.
After letting it reduce about 40 minutes to an hour, he then squeezes the mixtured out through a collinder, compressing the cooked vegetables so all the juices come out.
Then he puts this sauce back on the pan and AGAIN lets it reduce another 1/3.
This is easily the most satisfying version of marinara i've made, and i've also been on an endless search for the "perfect" marinara.
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cocollins
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Re: Pasta Sauce question [Re: TheCow]
#8166095 - 03/19/08 11:00 AM (8 months, 10 days ago) |
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you actually have a couple of options that don't include the blender. If you are low carbing it, or want a more traditional sauce, simply place a couple of layers of cheese cloth inside your colander, and poor the cut up canned tomatoes into that about half an hour or more before you start the sauce. this allows all the watery stuff to drain off gives fresh vibrant flavor to your sauces. the other option is to add a bit of flour or other starch to your saute... making a rue, stirring this inn with give a heavier thicker more American style sauce, you have to cook and stir well to incorporate the rue.
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GabbaDj
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Re: Pasta Sauce question [Re: TheCow]
#8166594 - 03/19/08 01:21 PM (8 months, 10 days ago) |
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You have to squeeze each tomato.
Slice each in half, give it a squeeze till all the seeds are out and all you have is skinless flesh. Youll have to use a few more cans than norml this way but your sauce will be great.
Add red wine, 1 can tomato sauce and 1 can tomato paste, a bit of sugar and whatever seasonings you like. Plus a ton of garlic...
DONT LET IT BOIL. Simmer away for an hour with just a few bubbles coming up off the bottom. Boiling makes the sauce bitter and acidic.
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GabbaDj
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Re: Pasta Sauce question [Re: TheCow]
#8166631 - 03/19/08 01:27 PM (8 months, 10 days ago) |
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Also... Make sure that the extra water isnt coming from your spaghetti noodles. This can happen if you dont let the pasta drain well enough.
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GabbaDj
FAMM.ORG C8.com http://www.beatsopjefiets.com/
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snoot
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Re: Pasta Sauce question [Re: GabbaDj]
#8166672 - 03/19/08 01:35 PM (8 months, 10 days ago) |
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reduction is great. Try using some seasoned butter too in the mix, that should bind it together.
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WhiskeyClone
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Re: Pasta Sauce question [Re: TheCow]
#8174787 - 03/21/08 01:48 AM (8 months, 8 days ago) |
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Mash the tomato chunks
Add olive oil
A blender really helps if you aren't too lazy
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