I've learned a lot from this lesson. But now I am ready to give it a try and will possibly make the larger version that is on your site so I can freeze and share. Is there a recipe for turning this into spaghetti sauce and pizza sauce, which would be my favourites. Thanks.

For the Pizza Sauce... I'd leave as is. In fact, we made the pizza dough last week after a batch of tomato sauce and only used tomato sauce with a drizzle of olive oil and some fresh basil. To die for.

Pizza: http://rouxbe.com/recipes/247/preview

For the Spaghetti Sauce, try browning some ground Italian sausage (without the sausage skins) or lean ground beef (or a combination of the two). Mario uses ground pork, veal and Pancetta:

Mario Batali's Ragu: http://rouxbe.com/recipes/1145/preview

Don't be afraid to experiment here. Just brown the meat, drain off the fat, and then add the Basic Italian Tomato Sauce. Simmer for a good 45 mins to an hour. Add some chili flakes if you like a bit of heat. Basic Italian cooking.

Let us know how it goes.

I can't seem to find the San Marzano Tomatoes where I live, and I don't like the canned tomatoes that are sold here: way too sour. So my question is, how much fresh tomatoes do I need to make this sauce?

A 16-ounce can of tomatoes is equivalent to 1/2 kilogram or just over a pound of fresh tomatoes. Make sure they are very ripe. You can ripen them at room temperature on a counter covered with a towel for a day or two (NOT in the sun).

You can find the San Marzano tomatoes online too (several results on amazon.com)

The lesson didn’t comment on buying whole vs. crushed tomatoes. I could see it would be a bad choice if the crushed product had seeds in it, but having used crushed San Marzano tomatoes, I don’t recall seeing seeds in the sauce. That was, however, before completing this lesson so it may not have registered with me. Crushed tomatoes make a chunkier sauce, which is nice in some applications and easily transformed into a smooth sauce with a quick zap from an immersion blender right in the pan. Are there other considerations with crushed vs. whole tomatoes?
I did make tomato sauce with whole tomatoes and it was really good. I am also completely converted to émincéd garlic rather than chopped. Thanks for that education, no more burned garlic bits in my sauces!

I have to admit, I have used crushed tomatoes before. They work well, but keep in mind that crushed tomatoes usually do not come from the best harvested tomatoes. Also, they do tend to be a bit concentrated, producing a heavier sauce. However, you make a good point, Carol. They can easily substitute whole tomatoes and can be lightened with a bit of stock and lightly - lightly - processed for a smoother consistency. And if you like it thick and chunky, well the crushed is a good bet. Hope this helps.

Where can you get San Marzano tomatoes that contain no salt or citric acid?

San Marzano tomatoes usually do not contain salt or citric acid, just make sure to check the label. http://rouxbe.com/drilldowns/340

As for where to buy San Marzano tomatoes, they are more widely available everyday. Most Italian delis sell them, Wholefoods and many other stores and even some smaller markets.

Whether you buy San Marzano or not, just be sure to check the labels of whatever tomatoes you are buying.

I feel it is very important to take genuine care and love when putting together a classic such as this one.

You guys are totally awesome! Not only stupendious tomato sauce, but marvelous Channa Masala, outrageous omelets, really peachy fried potatos (no recipe, but the picture was enough) and the proper technique for pre-heating a pan. Definitely Bomb Diggity status!!!!

Lynn

FYI- Here is a text recipe for the potatoes http://rouxbe.com/recipes/1732

Must be the bit of Irish in me because I ADORE potatoes! I could eat them everyday.

The local stores near me all carry brands that contain citric acid and salt (Cento and a couple others that I forget). When I shopping online the ingredients usually aren't listed.

Does anyone know of any brands that you can purchase online that do not contain citric acid and salt?

I found this link to a site that makes pizza ovens. It also seems that they sell good San Marzano tomatoes.

http://www.fornobravo.com/store/San-Marzano-Tomatoes-p-1-c-254.html

Here is another site.
http://www.pastene.com/san_marzano.html

You could also try phoning around where you live, or check the local Italian Deli they should either sell or know where you can get them.

Hope this helps...good luck!

My grandmother is from southern italy and we always called this gravy (I think that discussion has the potential to digress into Mac vs PC type flame debates). It's funny how many of those techniques i've done because it was what i was taught to do, but never really understood why. Now I understand more, thanks!

Some of my favorite sauces have been either really smokey or sweet. Vincent's in Little Italy (NY) comes to mind. What do people add to the sauce to bring out that really sweet or really smokey flavor in a sauce.

Here is a nice place to buy the tomatoes http://www.cento.com/sanmarzano.html or I buy them at whole foods market.

The de-seeder is what I am looking for.

Have you been able to find the de-seeder yet? Try your local Italian deli.

Well... I found some sources on the internet I can order food mills and other nice cooking items. http://www.creativecookware.com/index.htm
I live in a city next to Las Vegas, my local Italian deli is not so good, however I find the local Whole Foods Market nice but pricey for food ingredients and everything else I can from the internet.

I always make the tomato sauce I use in my kitchen, but use fresh tomatoes and add tomato paste, tomato is very natural sound quality and good taste.
Remove the seeds of tomato, more by instinct than by knowledge, please, I know they affect the seeds in the sauce, well I did not understand the video.
Thanks for the patience and very good lessons.

If I understand what you are asking, you are asking "how do the seeds affect the sauce" - the seeds can add bitterness (amargura?) to the sauce. Sorry I am not sure if this is the right word in Spanish :-)

Yes Dawn is the right word, make the sauce a bit more bitter or sour, is correct expreion.

Thank you very much.

What is the best way to take the seeds out of the tomatoes if you do not have a machine to do this?

How to De-seed tomatoes without a machine...good question.

It is really very simple, you can use a strainer or simply your hands. Watch topic 6 from the lesson on How to Make Tomato Sauce this entire topic will shows you a few ways to de-seed tomatoes. Hope this helps!

Thank you for your response. (I think I got ahead of myself and skipped parts to view other recipes) Just not enough time in one day to cook them all (ha ha)

I picked about 15 pounds of tomatoes this morning so I decided to make a tomato sauce following this lesson and recipe...but substituting an equivalent amount of fresh tomatoes for the canned...beautiful Brandywines and Purple Cherokees, very meaty large tomatoes.

Using a food mill, I pureed about 10 lbs. of whole tomatoes. Of this, more than 2 lbs was waste - skin, seeds, cores. I ended up with somewhat less than 4 qts of sauce from the 10 lbs of tomatoes.

But the sauce was thin...even after an hour of slow simmer. Does this have mostly to do with the type of tomatoes I used? Should I continue to cook it down? Or should I expect it to be fairly thin? It's very flavorful and delicious as it is. But it's more like juice than sauce.