Lets talk sauce!

[Winemaker]

Thanks Mary,

The San Marzano was clearly
better than any other sauce I had made but I did have to cook it down 50%. I am looking forward to doing the CG in the Earthtainers. Winemaking, cooking and tomatoes are my passion. I tend to keep my sauces simple with just basil, garlic and tomatoes and then add to them when I use them.

[brokenbar]

Originally Posted by Winemaker

Thanks Mary,

The San Marzano was clearly
better than any other sauce I had made but I did have to cook it down 50%. I am looking forward to doing the CG in the Earthtainers. Winemaking, cooking and tomatoes are my passion. I tend to keep my sauces simple with just basil, garlic and tomatoes and then add to them when I use them.

I soak my tomatoes in red wine before drying them. I dust them with oregano, basil, garlic and sea salt and that's it! It is a dried tomato to die for! For drying, I use Romeo, HUGE, bulbous shaped with average of 15 seeds or less per tomato, Chinese, 1lb, tubular, dry as the Sahara, couple of others.

The Costoluto Genovese come through the tomato mill looking like finished sauce. I let it set over night and all the puree will rise to the top and I can siphon off any of the clear liquid from the bottom. Takes very little cooking down. I am convinced this is what keeps my marinara tasting fresh...as little cooking as possible. I put myself through vet school as a chef in an Italian restaurant so I too, love to cook.

[JRinPA]

Definitely looking at getting some sauce tomatos next year. I haven't done seeds yet. What plants should I look for in stores?

[Dak]

JR, stores really don't carry great sauce tomatoes, at least I've never seen any, that's the beauty of growing your own from seeds. I've been really impressed with Costoluto Genovese, it's extremely prolific. But try and get in on a trade this winter and get Brokenbar's strain, I found it was very different from than what's usually sold as CG. It started producing tomatoes for me in June and has hardly stopped.

[MrsJustice]

Originally Posted by Dak

JR, stores really don't carry great sauce tomatoes, at least I've never seen any, that's the beauty of growing your own from seeds. I've been really impressed with Costoluto Genovese, it's extremely prolific. But try and get in on a trade this winter and get Brokenbar's strain, I found it was very different from than what's usually sold as CG. It started producing tomatoes for me in June and has hardly stopped.

I agree Costoluto Genovese should be listed as a Paste Tomato!!!

[loulac]

Brokenbar wrote : I let it set over night and all the puree will rise to the top

I must say this is the best technque I have ever tried and the only one I use now. If you don’t have a plastic tube to siphon the juice off you can skim off the pulp with a ladle. The more narrow your recipient is, the better.
Let me add a detail : the tomatoes should not be warm when processed. Pick them up early in the morning, Keep the mix in a cool place. If you don’t it may start fermenting (lots of bubbles on the surface).
Cook for half an hour, stir the puree constantly (I use a piece of wood, wider than a spoon and long enough to keep my hand away from the heat).

[Winemaker]

I would surely appreciate anyone that could share a few of the Costoluto Genovese seeds from Brokenbar with me. Being a beginner, I don't really have anything to share. I plan to grow them in Raybos's Earthtainers.
Thanks,
Doyle

[drew51]

Mary,

On your Nesco, how long do you usually cook your marinara? I read your other tips about removing clear liquid and such. And on what setting? I guess first you bring it to a boil (what setting?) and then simmer (again what setting?) Also exactly how many onions do you add to your marinara? As it was omitted, I was wondering what the master recipe said to add?
Sorry I'm anal about these things. i do adjust to my likes anyway, but nice to have an exact starting put, a default.

Thanks so much for this info. I'm new to making marinara, heck new to everything, i need all the help i can get!

Drew

[NarnianGarden]

I did ask a similar question in the other sauce thread, and here it is again... Is it necessary to remove the seeds in order to make excellent sauce? I hate to discard anything edible (laziness, perhaps), and I really like the gelly seed part in a tomato...
I'd think that boiling it long enough makes the taste concentrated and intense enough.

Am willing to try seedless sauce next summer...!

[tlintx]

I don't worry about the seeds, but my sauces tend to be pretty rustic. I also don't boil, really. Just simmer for a couple of hours if there's meat in there and much less if it's a tomato basil garlic thing. (I cook Italian-American, not Italian, and that's southern Italian by way of New York.)

But I think I might be in the minority on this, and I'm also looking forward to trying some seedless sauces this year!

[Axixic]

Originally Posted by brokenbar

I soak my tomatoes in red wine before drying them. I dust them with oregano, basil, garlic and sea salt and that's it! It is a dried tomato to die for! For drying, I use Romeo, HUGE, bulbous shaped with average of 15 seeds or less per tomato, Chinese, 1lb, tubular, dry as the Sahara, couple of others.

The Costoluto Genovese come through the tomato mill looking like finished sauce. I let it set over night and all the puree will rise to the top and I can siphon off any of the clear liquid from the bottom. Takes very little cooking down. I am convinced this is what keeps my marinara tasting fresh...as little cooking as possible. I put myself through vet school as a chef in an Italian restaurant so I too, love to cook.

I sent you a PM asking about the peppers you use and I am also having a hard time finding a vendor for the Chinese paste tomato you use. I found one who has Romeo paste tomatoes.

Can you list your vendors or since I am in Mexico also, mail a few seeds to me? I can reciprocate and give you seeds.

[Father'sDaughter]

Originally Posted by Axixic

I sent you a PM asking about the peppers you use and I am also having a hard time finding a vendor for the Chinese paste tomato you use. I found one who has Romeo paste tomatoes.



Can you list your vendors or since I am in Mexico also, mail a few seeds to me? I can reciprocate and give you seeds.

Given her "disappearance" from the forum, I'm guessing Mary is off on another long trip (I forget where she said she was going this time), and probably won't stop in here again until she gets home. So don't be concerned if she doesn't respond to you for a while.

[Crissyb]

Just wanted to say how much I love Mary's Marinara Sauce recipe! It froze beautifully and tastes better than any other spaghetti sauce recipe I tried this past summer. I would like to purchase a pressure cooker this year so I could can some instead of taking up freezer space. I'm busy now planning my tomatoes for the coming summer, definitely trying the Costoluto Genovese and few more pastes. Thanks for the great tips brokenbar!

[Stvrob]

I grew a variety called Opalka for the first time last year and found it to be exceptional for making sauce. Hardly any seeds or gel, and very good taste. I did have alot of blossom end rot in the plants I tried to grow in containers though, but the ones in the ground did excellent.

[loulac]

Crissyb wrote : I would like to purchase a pressure cooker this year

You will have to choose between a pressure canner and a pressure cooker. The uses and the prices are not the same. I don't know Mary's Marinara sauce recipe. If there is no meat in it filling the jars as soon as the sauce is ready and boiling them half an hour will sterilize them perfectly for several years, you won't have to buy anything special. If there is meat one has to play it safe, sterilize longer and eat the sauce within a year. With a pressure canner your jars will be safe several (two or three) years.