Yellow onions are the most common and become sweet when cooked. Since such a small amount is used, it won't make a big difference in flavor whether you use yellow or white.

I am pretty confident that you will make this sauce more than once :-), so experiment to see if you can tell the difference and prefer one over the other. Have fun!

OK, I'm so ready to make this for dinner, but I'm out of Olive Oil! And, the kids can not be convinced to get in the car. The only thing I have in my pantry is White Truffle Oil- can I substitute?

No no no...please don't substitute the olive oil with white truffle oil. You likely won't be able to eat it as the truffle oil would totally overpower the entire sauce. Truffle oil is meant to be used more as a finishing oil and/or in very small amounts.

In a pinch, you could use another neutral oil such as grapeseed oil; however, this sauce is best with olive oil. Hope this helps!

I made the tomato sauce, and there is no doubt that it is good tomato sauce. The San Marzano tomatoes, the double concentrate tomato paste, and all of your other techniques/ingredients give it a very distinct and rich "tomato sauce" flavor.

However, I think I was expecting something more/else. I was expecting a rich sauce I could put right on top of spaghetti. I was disappointed when I tasted the sauce over spaghetti. It tasted like tomato sauce put over spaghetti. Albeit a good tomato sauce, but still tomato sauce.

Is there a recipe, or any ideas, on how I can take the basic tomato sauce and turn it into a rich sauce to put over spaghetti, etc. Maybe I just don't get it, and that is the way it is supposed to be. I have been making "spaghetti sauce" for decades and I was hoping that this sauce would make it even better. As I said, maybe I just don't get it. Will you help/enlighten me?

Thanks.

David

Some people, especially Italians who love things simple, love tomato sauce simply to taste of tomatoes, and not much else. However, we often expect more. So, add more. Use the sauce as your base and elaborate it with ingredients you like: spicy sausages, peppers, more garlic, chilies, olives, capers, tuna, etc. Remember, cooking starts with a fundamental base, then you can build on that as you please. Some need more building blocks, some need less, depending on taste.

This tomato sauce is my favorite out of all the mother sauces. I think of it as a base to my cooking canvas. Sometimes I just add a little extra seasoning (salt, pepper, fresh basil leaves and a drizzle of good quality olive oil) voila...amazing! In the past, (before I learned how to make this sauce on Rouxbe) I used to add everything but the kitchen sink to my tomato sauce thinking that was what you needed to do to make a successful sauce and indeed many recipes involve a lot of ingredients. I like the simplicity of this because it brings out the true essence of the flavor of tomatoes and I can build from there. Also, when I make this sauce I like to make a big batch and freeze it for later use.

What is the advantage to preparing the garlic as an emince as opposed to crushing it through your garlic press?

The finer garlic is chopped/crushed, the more intense the flavor. We often emince the garlic in many recipes to give a subtle flavor. One clove that is cut emince will be a lot less intense than the equivalent that is crushed. Crushed garlic can easily overpower a dish, so be careful. Ultimately, it's up to you and your personal preference.

I was sharing this recipe with my siste-in-law and she said "What, no fresh tomatoes?" So the question is, fresh vs. canned tomatoes. Is the peeling and dicing worth it? Do the Italian canned tomatoes have something 'extra' that domestic tomatoes cannot match? BTW, Love this web site. Signed up for the lifetime membership and I am hoping you have a long life.

You can definitely used fresh, vine-ripened tomatoes if you have access to them. There are quite a few high-quality, canned tomatoes on the market, so you can make tomato sauce all year round. For more information on this we do cover this in depth in the Cooking School Lesson on How to Make Tomato Sauce. Cheers!

I do not currently own a food mill, and I am not aware of any local stores that carry this item. Is there any way to seed the tomatoes without a food mill, or is that option out of the question? Thanks for your help!

For more information on what to do if you don't have a food mill watch the cooking school lesson on Tomato Sauce, in particular topic 6. The video provides a few different options. Cheers!

I bought a tube of Concentrated Tomato Paste. However, it is only 2.8 oz. Since it is concentrated (although not double concentrated) would it be equivalent to the 5.5 oz tomato paste listed in the recipe?

I also noticed that I got "Sun-Dried" Tomato Paste. I won't be going to the store anytime soon. At this point, should I just go with the can of Hunts Tomato Paste I already have, although I realize it may not turn out as well?

BTW, I found a food mill like one shown in the video at Bed Bath and Beyond and the San Marzano tomatoes at Whole Foods Market (Southern California).

I would go for the amount listed in the recipe. If you cannot always find concentrated, don't worry, it will still taste great. The sun-dried tomato paste will also taste good, it may just have a slightly richer tomato flavor than regular, which is okay. If you do not have enough you could always use both the concentrated and the regular tomato paste. Cheers!

Great! So don't let the word "concentrated" on the tomato paste tube fool me. It is the same concentration as regular tomato paste. I assume "double concentrated" is also the same. My friends say my biggest problem in learning to cook is that I analyze things too much.

I will go with your suggestion of using both the concentrated and the regular tomato paste. It sounds like it will tone down the sun-dried richer tomato flavor. I was able to find plenty of the concentrated, I just should have noted the amount listed in the recipe before shopping. :) Thanks!

I just made a half batch of the sauce and used grapeseed oil instead of the olive (same containers, not paying attention) and it's still good, but I will have to try it again. And BTW those special canned tomatoes are becoming hard to find. I heard there was a problem with last year's crop and there will be a shortage - Bosa's had NONE, so if you see them, grab some.

I just made a batch of sauce using pastene brand san marzano tomatos. I used a great EVO and followed the recipe exactly. I find that my sauce tastes a bit bitter- not sweet and juicy. What do you think went wrong? How can I fix it?

It does not sound like you did anything wrong. Sometimes, if the tomatoes contain citric acid, it's because they weren't picked at their peak and don't contain enough natural sugar to be canned and preserved without any salt or chemical. It's not a really big deal, but depending on the season, it's sometimes harder to find optimal tomatoes in a can. Often the best tomatoes stay at home in Italy or in Europe. If you want to add a bit of sweetness, you can adjust with a pinch of sugar. Even better than adding sugar is to cook the onions further. Next time, taste the tomatoes before you start. If they seem a bit bitter, cook the onions a bit longer to bring out their natural sweetness, rather than relying on adding sugar. Hope this helps!

Excellent recipe. I tried out a couple of variations and do have a question.
I started with one 28oz (800g) can. I realizied that the sauce is very thick then.

Was the recipe intended to actually include 4 cans (28 x 4 oz)

The resulting sauce was very potent and nice, but a little strong for blending it with other dishes.

The recipe does call "4 cans (28 oz) whole tomatoes" (in step 1). Cheers!

Hello everyone,
This is my FIRST recipe completed from Rouxbe, and I wasn't sure what to expect.. What I got was some good lessons, and some new ideas.

1. The canned tomatoes, San Marzano, without the additives were incredible!
2. I wasn't able to remove the seeds, it was way too much work, so in they went. Maybe with the proper tool this would work, but I couldn't tell the difference.
3. I did not believe that slicing the garlic instead of mincing it would make a difference, so I tested this. Although I did NOT like biting into slices of garlic in the finished dish, the sauce was obviously less bitter and much more naturally "tomatoey". (this was a very good thing!)
4. The recipe calls for a modest amount of salt. In comparing this tomato sauce with previous ones I had made with regular canned tomatoes, I needed to add more salt to this dish to bring it to my liking.
5. I did one thing different, that I believe makes the sauce much better. I skinned, seeded, and halved 6 very ripe Roma tomatoes, gave them a dash of good olive oil, some salt and pepper and dried basil, and roasted them for 35 minutes at 400F. I rough chopped them when done, and added this to the sauce, and I loved the results.

The addition of the roasted tomatoes gives me the freshness I love, and the sweetness of roasting!

Yumm!

Thanks Rouxbe for my brand new best loved basic tomato sauce! It is created! I am a happy camper!

I make my sauce with puree/whole tomato's and tomato sauce maybe i will try it this way i am thinking this is a thin watery sauce since u have no puree in it *shrug*

How many or what weight is apropriate when using fresh tomato's from my own garden?

I would say roughly the same amount as in one can - 28 to 30 ounces; so, if you're making the whole batch, use about 120 ounces or 7.5-8 pounds. It doesn't have to be exact. Cheers!

I made a simple lasagna with my sauce and it was the BEST lasagna I've ever tasted! My sauce just gave the lasagna the perfect flavor. This sauce is definately going to be a staple in my house.