Tomato Sauce and Its Derivations

Besides the gravy method sauces, this is the other most versatile method for sauces. It starts out with a basic tomato sauce recipe, then you add things to it to make other sauces. The difference is that with tomato sauces, I'm actually backed by the common culinary methods. It is one of the mother sauces.

The italian is probably the foremost expert on turning a humble tomato into a myriad of sauces with fancy names like Amitriciana, Bolognese, Norcina, Marinara and many others. Now if you notice, the sauce names sound an awful lot like region names in Italy.

Ding ding ding! That is correct, Italian cooking is so rooted in their surroundings that different regions will use the ingredients indigenous to them. Some regions use sheeps milk, others goats milk and yet others cow's milk for their cheeses. Some use lamb for their meat, others pigs and yet others beef.

This is the beauty of knowing the methods rather than recipes. It allows the method cooking practicioner to go to a farmer's market to buy fresh ingredients and apply them to the appropriate cooking methods.

-------------------

Let's get started with a basic tomato sauce.

Sautee onions, carrots, and celery in some kind of fat (bacon fat, chicken fat, olive oil, etc) until translucent and brown on the edges. As always when sauteeing vegetables, add a pinch of salt.

Add garlic to taste (chopped or sliced) for 30-45 seconds until fragrant then add tomato paste and the herbs. Add a dash of red chili flakes with the garlic if desired (it is, trust me)

When you can smell the tomato paste, add the tomato water (see below) and scrape the pan until clean.

Add the tomatoes (see below) and some wine (red or white, I prefer white)

When the mixture is boiling, turn down to simmer until the consistency is correct. Halfway through simmering, to have a more meaty consistency add quite a bit of bacon (you got the bacon fat from somewhere right?).

I like to add FRESH herbs like basil at the end of the cooking, before serving. Add the crisp bacon on top (if available).

Voila...tomato sauce (marinara when basil is added)

------------------

Preparing your tomatoes

Unless it is peak tomato season, always use good canned tomatoes. Canned tomatoes and tomato paste will give you the tomato flavor while the fresh out of season tomatoes will give you the freshness. *Don't throw away the water in the canned tomatoes, use this to deglaze the pan when I call for the tomato water above*

With your fresh tomatoes (especially when in season), the tomato water actually have a fair bit of flavor. Cut the tomatoes in half and let the juices and seeds fall into a colander, catching only the liquid in a bowl below. *This is the tomato water I call for above*

Roasted tomatoes

For tomato sauces, I love to put in roasted tomatoes for their intense flavor. I can also eat roasted tomatoes as is! here's how I do it. After halving and seeding the tomatoes, put the tomatoes on a glass/stainless steel baking or roasting pan. Add olive oil, herbs (Oregano, basil, thyme), salt, black pepper, garlic, finely diced onion and bake for 2-2.5 hours in 300-325 degree oven. Just like roasting meats, now we have to caramelize the concentrated sugars. Blast the oven to 400-425 degrees and bake for another 30-45 minutes. Check after 20 minutes and 5 minutes afterward for overbrowning (ie burning).

If you have a food mill, you can grind the roasted tomatoes in there and you'll end up with a smoother sauce without the skin. I like the skin, it adds a different flavor to it so I just throw the whole shebang in a food processor. As is, it's a pretty good sauce already. But I like the extra sweetness and richness the sauteed vegetables add to it and that's why I have the extra steps above.

---------------------

Other sauces and dishes you can make:

Bolognese - Use bacon or pancetta to sautee the vegetables. In addition to adding the tomato water in the step above, add some beef broth or chicken stock, cream and ground meat (pork, beef, turkey, etc). Let simmer until the meat is tender and continue on to the next steps. Instead of adding white whine, add red wine instead. Traditionally served with home made tagliatelle noodle

Amatriciana - Use pancetta or guanciale to sautee the vegetables (bacon is ok, but not authentic). Authentic Amatriciana is made with guanciale, cured unsmoked pig jowl. Yep I said jowl. When simmering, add a good amount of pecorino cheese and just a bit of cream. Serve with dried pastas like spaghetti and crisp rashers of the guanciale. A very simple version can be made with fresh tomatoes sauteed in guanciale fat, add the cheese and add the noodles.

Puttanesca - add anchiovies when sauteeing the vegetables. Add black olives, capers and chili pepper flakes with the garlic. Continue with the next steps and serve over spaghetti with parsley

Creole/sauce piquante - Instead of adding italian herbs, add creole seasoning. Add seafood toward the end of the simmer, leave the sauce a lot looser and serve over rice.

Clam sauce - add clam juice and clams at the end, serve over long noodles

Chicken and rice bake - In a casserole pan, add uncooked rice, an equal amount of water, chicken and add the sauce to cover the chicken. Bake at 325-350 degrees until chicken and rice are done. To make it quicker, use cooked rice, omit the extra water and sear the chicken and use only chicken breasts. Can also cube the chicken, sautee them and then add to the cooked rice and tomato sauce

Chili - Yep, you can make chili out of this stuff. Instead of italian herbs, use chili seasonings (cumin, coriander, etc). Add spicy stuff if you want. As a matter of fact, it's best if you fry the meat in the chili seasonings and add it to the tomato sauce just after the tomato paste step. Add beef broth or chicken stock to deglaze. Add the beans at the end if you want. And of course simmer until it's reduced to a good consistency for you.

Mushroom sauce - You can make it vegetarian and add sauteed mushrooms as it's simmering.

Tortilla soup - When processing the tomatoes, leave them a little chunky (or add diced tomatoes). Don't add the italian seasoning, but mexican instead (taco seasoning anyone?). Add the finished sauce to chicken soup and add tortilla chips to thicken. Just add enough sauce to make the chicken soup tomatoey. Also add fresh tomatoes at the end. Some people will add cilantro but I HATE cilantro.