Tomato Sauce – A Superb, Simple and Authentic Recipe

Tomato Sauce and tomatoes are universally associated with Italian Food …

And for good reason. Tomatoes and tomato sauce are both important components of many Italian Food recipes.

In a perfect world one would walk outside to their garden and gather tomatoes to make tomato sauce. You could choose from any number of varieties of non-hybridized or heirloom tomatoes. With varying degrees of ripeness. Green for frying with breadcrumbs. Semi-ripe for salads and as sandwich toppings. And very ripe for tomato sauce. The skin would be thin and the tomato flavor overpowering. But this is not a perfect world.

Huge corporate seed companies made a decision decades ago. They decided the market demanded commercially raised tomatoes. And they needed to be picked by machine to save labor. They had to be harvested green, not ripe. So they could travel long distances. And also not suffer damage. And be ready for artificial ripening in a gas filled room. They also decided that all tomatoes had to look perfect. No craggy surfaces or brown spots. Totally symmetrical. Tomato asthetics is not a big concern when making tomato sauce though. It’s all about the flavor.

This breeding process produced gorgeous looking tomatoes. But unfortunately with a waxy, thick skin. And mealy meat and very little tomato flavor. Today, virtually every variety of tomato has been hybridized in this fashion. Older varieties, heirloom tomatoes, still exist. But only because small farmers are filling the need. Tomato purists are demanding these older seeds. They require much more care and produce uneven fruit. But the flavor… oh… the flavor. And that flavor is magnificent in tomato sauce.

Ironically, even many heirloom or older seeds have been hybridized to a degree somewhere along the line. That’s to improve disease resistance. They’re still much more delicious than the average “new age” tomato. But they lack the true flavor of the original Open-Pollinated plants. Fortunately there are specialty seed houses worldwide. They produce very old, non-hybridized tomato seeds. They’re readily available for purchase online. And they’re great for making tomato sauce.

Here in the U.S., commercial heirloom production is increasing. But not enough to make them affordable to the average consumer. At least not yet.

Large scale commercial heirloom tomato production is still in full swing. Especially in the San Marzano region of Italy. This is near Naples where some of the world’s finest tomatoes are grown. San Marzano tomatoes are plum shaped. They’re similar to the Roma variety, but thinner. And they have a much more delicate, thin skin. And a powerful tomato flavor. Perfect for tomato sauce.

tomato sauceHeirloom tomatoes like San Marzano are Open-Pollinated varieties. They change very little from one season to the next. The Italian government has designated that true San Marzano tomatoes are precisely labeled. Like many other authentic foods and cheeses, they bear the D.O.G. label. Otherwise known as the European Union’s Designation Of Origin label. The label is on every can or container, so they are easy to identify in the store. There’s another label that identifies these authentic food products, from Italy, too. And that is DOP certified: Denominazione di Origine Protetta. Or Protected Designation of Origin. If you want to use tomatoes in cans or containers to make tomato sauce, these are the ones to get. We highly recommended them.

My two favorite producers of San Marzano are the Cento and Pomi brands. Both are readily available in stores. And both companies produce very reasonably priced tomatoes. These are excellent for making tomato sauce. Cento makes an all natural puree, without preservatives. I bought some last week at my local grocery store for $1.29 per can. You can also get most Pomi all natural, unpreserved cans for around $2.25. Most importantly, they give you a choice of tomatoes with or without preservatives. Specifically Citric Acid.

When choosing canned or preserved tomatoes ALWAYS choose those packed WITHOUT Citric Acid if you have a choice. Tomatoes canned without preservatives can mimic and many times even rival fresh, vine ripened tomatoes for flavor. Again, excellent for making tomato sauce.

The Holy Grail of achieving the finest, most extraordinary flavor for tomato sauce? It’s the just picked, vine ripened, heirloom variety tomato. Italian variety or not.

Here’s the order of preference:

  1. Fresh, extra ripe, vine ripened heirloom tomatoes – WAY TOO EXPENSIVE.
  2. Fresh, extra ripe, vine ripened hybrid tomatoes – WAY TOO EXPENSIVE.
  3. Canned Tomatoes WITHOUT CITRIC ACID or other preservatives – THE WINNER!!!!
  4. Canned Tomatoes with Citric Acid or other preservatives – ONLY WHEN NECESSARY.
Written by Dino Romano, former Pasta Channel Italian Food Blogger, Italian Cook Extraordinaire,
Entrepreneur and Raconteur. Has taken Kyle Phillips (former Principle/Blogger for the About.com
Guide to Italian Food) to task on several supposedly “authentic” Italian recipes.

Lasagne Verdi alla Bolognese – best recipe!

Carmelita Caruana - Italian Food Expert - creates a superb Lasagne Verdi alla Bolognese

Lasagne Verdi alla Bolognese is a dish to approach with the reverence Italians show it. And at a moment when you have plenty of time to enjoy the process.

Lasagne is an absolute masterpiece of Italian cuisine. A dish you do properly or not all. That means a recipe with everything done from scratch. Anything else is not authentic. And not worth the name or the time.  Lasagne Verdi alla Bolognese is a dish/recipe for special occasions. To be made with love and care for your nearest and dearest. Knowing the patience and effort you invest will be richly rewarded!

A special lasagne recipe direct from Carmelita Caruana in Italy

For the Pasta Recipe:

  • 1 ½ cups cake flour, 2 eggs, ½ pound fresh spinach or ¼ pound frozen spinach
  • Dough recipe can be made the day before and kept in fridge in a plastic bag overnight. Bring to room temperature before rolling out on the pasta machine
  • If you can buy fresh pasta made only with fresh (not powdered) eggs and soft wheat flour, you need not make your own

For the Ragu Bolognese Recipe:

  • A stick of celery, a small onion, a small carrot: super finely minced
  • 3 oz. fatty salt cured rolled pancetta, sliced very thin, then finely knife minced
  • ½ lean beef, coarsely ground
  • ½ lb fresh Italian pork sausages without fennel, chili or other spice
  • 4 tbsp. good  passata (seedless, skinless tomato pulp)
  • 2 tsbp. butter or olive oil
  • A small glass white or red wine
  • A small glass of milk, any kind
  • Nutmeg to grate

Lasagne is better made a day or two before. It can be frozen.

For the Béchamel Sauce:

  • 3 ½ tbsp. flour
  • 3 ½ tbsp. butter
  • 1 pint milk
  • Salt and pepper
  • Optional: a fresh bay leaf, grated nutmeg

Lasagne can be made ahead, then covered with buttered paper and refrigerated.

For assembling:

  • 4 tbsp. freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano (no substitutes please!)
  • ¼ stick butter
  • 1 tbsp. olive oil for the baking dish

The Ragu Recipe:

  • Soften all the finely minced vegetables in a wide shallow skillet. Cook over low heat till very soft in the fat. They must not color or fry so pour in 1 tbsp. of water from time to time to prevent that.  As they must not be visible in the final Bolognese sauce. It takes about 20 minutes in this stage.
  • Add the pancetta and soften adding 1 tbsp. water when needed as before.
  • When the pancetta is very soft, remove sausage from the casing and combine with the ground beef to the pan. Sauté thoroughly over moderate heat to evaporate the water but avoid browning or crumbling.
  • Pour in wine and allow to evaporate completely on low heat. Then combine milk and again allow to evaporate.
  • Add the tomato passata to colour just a little (real Bolognese is never ever red!).  Taste and season with salt (if needed), pepper and nutmeg.
  • Transfer the sauce from the skillet to a narrow deep and heavy bottom pot. Pour in half a cup of water and start the sauce on its long, slow gentle 3 1/2 hour simmer!
  • Stir the sauce regularly and pour in water as it reduces, but never more than a ladle of water at a time.
  • When the Ragu is almost ready the fat separates and you can either tip the pan a little so you can spoon most of it out. Or if making ahead you can remove the fat when it has cooled and solidified.

The Béchamel Recipe:

  • Place the milk over heat, with the bay leaf if using.
  • In a separate pan big enough to take the boiling milk, cook the flour and butter together on low heat to make the “roux”.
  • When the milk comes to the boil, take both pans off the heat and add the milk all at once to the flour mix. Whisk vigorously to get a smooth thick lump free sacue.
  • Season with salt and nutmeg if using. Return to low heat for about 3 minutes to cook out any raw flour taste.

Lasagne Verdi alla Bolognese - side view.

The Pasta Recipe:

  • Cook the spinach, leave to cool. Squeeze as hard as you can to remove all water. Then whiz in a processor.
  • Make a well in the sifted flour and in the middle add the beaten eggs previously combined with the spinach.  Gently work into a dough. Knead 10 minutes or till the dough is smooth, elastic and fairly firm. Leave to rest at least 30 minutes in a plastic bag. Then roll out wide strips on the pasta machine and cut into 4 inch squares.
  • Bring a large pan of water to a boil.  Add salt and a little oil, then cook the just made lasagne 2 or 3 pieces at a time for about 2 minutes.
  • Remove squares and immediately plunge into cold water, then place on clean kitchen towels and pat dry.

Assembling the Lasagne:

  • Everyone has their own idea about how to layer the lasagne ingredients. This is just one way. In Bologna, very small amounts of ragù and bèchamel are used. So the lasagne is rich (but not “gloop-ey”) and easy to digest.
  • Lightly oil a rectangular baking dish. On the bottom arrange a first layer of pasta.
  • Place a small amount of Ragu on this. Use the back of a spoon to spread it without worrying about covering every bit of the lasagne. Dab teaspoons of béchamel on top of the ragù. Then add another layer of lasagne noodles, a little Ragù, a little béchamel, a little Ragù, and so on.  It is nice to get 5 or 6 layers of thinly rolled lasagne noodles into your lasagne.
  • Finish dish with a layer of lasagne noodles. And this time swirl the Bologonese Ragù and Bechamel together. Then top with plenty of grated Parmigiano-Reggiano and dot with dabs of butter.
  • Bake lasagne covered at 325° F for 20 minutes and uncovered for another 10 minutes.
  • Leave lasagne to rest 10 minutes before serving directly from the baking dish.

Carmelita Caruana runs the Cook Italy Cooking School based in Bologna, Italy. An Italian food expert and culinary consultant, her writing has been featured in major British newspapers and food magazines. Carmelita has appeared on British TV and held classes in various U.S. cities.