Back in the day I always made my own sauce. I used recipes. Sometimes even weird ones. One involved just regular plain fresh tomatoes and milk. It came from a very old cookbook. My Italian husband loved it! Most of my sauces were cooked for several hours if all day. In those days there was usually no meat. But my husband is a meat lover. So if I am cooking for him I will often add meat.
Tonight I am making a quick sauce. I am using some organic canned tomato sauce from Costco that really should have been used by April 1st. Shhh... Don't tell my daughter! I saw a teensy bit of rust forming at the edges of the cans but the product wasn't affected.
To help thicken the sauce I added some freeze dried chopped onions and red peppers. I learned to do this on my own. This will also add extra veggies. If I had any zucchini or summer squash, I would had finely shredded those in just for the extra veggies. Powdered dried mushrooms also work well to thicken. I like the kind they used to sell at Costco in a large jar. Not sure they still do. But I didn't have any. Had I had some fresh mushrooms I would have shredded those in as well. I figure any extra veggies I can get in there without anyone noticing is good! I did shred a few baby carrots in there. I got this tip from Mitch at the hot dog place that used to be in Lynnwood, called Mitch's. I don't like hot dogs so he used to make me spaghetti. The sauce tasted nicely sweet and he said this was because of the added shredded carrot. I did get into an argument with an Italian lady a few weeks ago about this. She said she can't stand it when people do that. *shrug*
I also added a squirt of lemon juice to help make it sweeter. My mom always did this as did my MIL who is Italian. I think it is something common to do for people of their age. I don't think I've ever seen a recipe that calls for it although I have looked it up on the Internet and people do it. I also added a pinch of cinnamon. I read somewhere that is done in the North of Italy. Seems to add sweetness as well. And I will add a splash of the cooking water to help thicken it. I learned this from various TV chefs such as Lidia Bastianich, Marianne Esposito and Nick Stellino.
The other seasonings I used tonight were mostly oregano, a bit of rosemary, a bit of garlic, salt and pepper. My husband and daughter like it heavy on the garlic but I do not. I can tolerate a bit of garlic but any more seems to mess with my stomach.
So do you have any secret things you add to your sauce when you make it from scratch? Ooh! There's my timer. Must go check my pasta. Am using whole wheat stuff from Whole Foods. The twisted kind. Can't remember the name.
"Julie Bove" <julieb...@frontier.com> wrote:
> Back in the day I always made my own sauce. I used recipes. Sometimes even > weird ones. One involved just regular plain fresh tomatoes and milk. It > came from a very old cookbook. My Italian husband loved it! Most of my > sauces were cooked for several hours if all day. In those days there was > usually no meat. But my husband is a meat lover. So if I am cooking for > him I will often add meat.
> Tonight I am making a quick sauce. I am using some organic canned tomato > sauce from Costco that really should have been used by April 1st. Shhh... > Don't tell my daughter! I saw a teensy bit of rust forming at the edges of > the cans but the product wasn't affected.
> To help thicken the sauce I added some freeze dried chopped onions and red > peppers. I learned to do this on my own. This will also add extra veggies. > If I had any zucchini or summer squash, I would had finely shredded those in > just for the extra veggies. Powdered dried mushrooms also work well to > thicken. I like the kind they used to sell at Costco in a large jar. Not > sure they still do. But I didn't have any. Had I had some fresh mushrooms > I would have shredded those in as well. I figure any extra veggies I can > get in there without anyone noticing is good! I did shred a few baby > carrots in there. I got this tip from Mitch at the hot dog place that used > to be in Lynnwood, called Mitch's. I don't like hot dogs so he used to make > me spaghetti. The sauce tasted nicely sweet and he said this was because of > the added shredded carrot. I did get into an argument with an Italian lady > a few weeks ago about this. She said she can't stand it when people do > that. *shrug*
> I also added a squirt of lemon juice to help make it sweeter. My mom always > did this as did my MIL who is Italian. I think it is something common to do > for people of their age. I don't think I've ever seen a recipe that calls > for it although I have looked it up on the Internet and people do it. I > also added a pinch of cinnamon. I read somewhere that is done in the North > of Italy. Seems to add sweetness as well. And I will add a splash of the > cooking water to help thicken it. I learned this from various TV chefs such > as Lidia Bastianich, Marianne Esposito and Nick Stellino.
> The other seasonings I used tonight were mostly oregano, a bit of rosemary, > a bit of garlic, salt and pepper. My husband and daughter like it heavy on > the garlic but I do not. I can tolerate a bit of garlic but any more seems > to mess with my stomach.
> So do you have any secret things you add to your sauce when you make it from > scratch? Ooh! There's my timer. Must go check my pasta. Am using whole > wheat stuff from Whole Foods. The twisted kind. Can't remember the name.
Meat sauce is best cooked long, but carrots might take a while. Regular
sauce does not take long. My sister whipped the best tomato sauce I have
eaten. I like it spicy. I hardly get mushroom sauce, but I love it. Perhaps
some egg plant also.
There was a show I watched where 4 Italian ladies were describing their own
sauce. Mostly basic ingredients. They said no fillers, but their favorite
jar sauce in a tv taste test was prego. I'm looking at my all natural
tomato Basel, but no fillers on this one. I think corn starch was commonly
used.
Julie Bove wrote:
> Back in the day I always made my own sauce. I used recipes. Sometimes > even weird ones. One involved just regular plain fresh
> tomatoes and milk. It came from a very old cookbook. My Italian
> husband loved it! Most of my sauces were cooked for several hours if
> all day. In those days there was usually no meat. But my husband is
> a meat lover. So if I am cooking for him I will often add meat.
> Tonight I am making a quick sauce. I am using some organic canned
> tomato sauce from Costco that really should have been used by April
> 1st. Shhh... Don't tell my daughter! I saw a teensy bit of rust
> forming at the edges of the cans but the product wasn't affected.
> To help thicken the sauce I added some freeze dried chopped onions
> and red peppers. I learned to do this on my own. This will also add
> extra veggies. If I had any zucchini or summer squash, I would had
> finely shredded those in just for the extra veggies. Powdered dried
> mushrooms also work well to thicken. I like the kind they used to
> sell at Costco in a large jar. Not sure they still do. But I didn't
> have any. Had I had some fresh mushrooms I would have shredded those
> in as well. I figure any extra veggies I can get in there without
> anyone noticing is good! I did shred a few baby carrots in there. I
> got this tip from Mitch at the hot dog place that used to be in
> Lynnwood, called Mitch's. I don't like hot dogs so he used to make
> me spaghetti. The sauce tasted nicely sweet and he said this was
> because of the added shredded carrot. I did get into an argument
> with an Italian lady a few weeks ago about this. She said she can't
> stand it when people do that. *shrug*
> I also added a squirt of lemon juice to help make it sweeter. My mom
> always did this as did my MIL who is Italian. I think it is
> something common to do for people of their age. I don't think I've
> ever seen a recipe that calls for it although I have looked it up on
> the Internet and people do it. I also added a pinch of cinnamon. I
> read somewhere that is done in the North of Italy. Seems to add
> sweetness as well. And I will add a splash of the cooking water to
> help thicken it. I learned this from various TV chefs such as Lidia
> Bastianich, Marianne Esposito and Nick Stellino.
> The other seasonings I used tonight were mostly oregano, a bit of
> rosemary, a bit of garlic, salt and pepper. My husband and daughter
> like it heavy on the garlic but I do not. I can tolerate a bit of
> garlic but any more seems to mess with my stomach.
> So do you have any secret things you add to your sauce when you make
> it from scratch? Ooh! There's my timer. Must go check my pasta. Am > using whole wheat stuff from Whole Foods. The twisted kind. Can't > remember the name.
Maybe instead of "sauce" recipes look for "sugo" recipes.
>> So do you have any secret things you add to your sauce when you make
>> it from scratch?
> EVOO. Somebody here posted a recipe about 15-20 years ago that
> included what I thought was an ungodly amount of extra virgin olive
> oil. The shole idea of EVOO in pasta sauce was foreign to me. It's
> probably the first piece of good advice I ever used here. You can
> also add butter (not margarine, please!).
Oh crud! I did put that in there too! And I forgot about it until you mentioned it.
> BTW: I read the first sentence of the first paragraphs you posted,
> then decided just to skip down to the bottom where there would
> probably be a question. If I read all that stuff in between then I'd
> feel too compelled to comment on some other oddity(s) of yours and
> never answer the question. Just sayin.
On Apr 9, 10:54 pm, Sqwertz <swe...@cluemail.compost> wrote:
> EVOO. Somebody here posted a recipe about 15-20 years ago that
> included what I thought was an ungodly amount of extra virgin olive
> oil. The shole idea of EVOO in pasta sauce was foreign to me. It's
> probably the first piece of good advice I ever used here. You can
> also add butter (not margarine, please!).
I was raised on olive oil, but I don't know everything. I
always assumed EVOO is used for salads and fresh things, not for
cooking. I wonder how many people can tell whether regular olive oil
or extra virgin was used after a dish has been cooked a while. Maybe
I could tell, I'm not sure, I never tried. Extra virgin drizzled over
things, even raw meat mixed with cracked wheat (kibbee), or even just-
cooked things, I could tell the difference right away. Not sure about
a sauce though. I don't know, never tested it.
I think some people just like typing EEVO, makes them feel like
they're a member of a special cult or something,
TJ
>> So do you have any secret things you add to your sauce when you make it >> from
>> scratch?
> EVOO. Somebody here posted a recipe about 15-20 years ago that
> included what I thought was an ungodly amount of extra virgin olive
> oil. The shole idea of EVOO in pasta sauce was foreign to me. It's
> probably the first piece of good advice I ever used here. You can
> also add butter (not margarine, please!).
> BTW: I read the first sentence of the first paragraphs you posted,
> then decided just to skip down to the bottom where there would
> probably be a question. If I read all that stuff in between then I'd
> feel too compelled to comment on some other oddity(s) of yours and
> never answer the question. Just sayin.
> Back in the day I always made my own sauce. I used recipes. Sometimes even
> weird ones. One involved just regular plain fresh tomatoes and milk. It
> came from a very old cookbook. My Italian husband loved it! Most of my
> sauces were cooked for several hours if all day. In those days there was
> usually no meat. But my husband is a meat lover. So if I am cooking for
> him I will often add meat.
> Tonight I am making a quick sauce. I am using some organic canned tomato
> sauce from Costco that really should have been used by April 1st. Shhh...
> Don't tell my daughter! I saw a teensy bit of rust forming at the edges of
> the cans but the product wasn't affected.
> To help thicken the sauce I added some freeze dried chopped onions and red
> peppers. I learned to do this on my own. This will also add extra veggies.
> If I had any zucchini or summer squash, I would had finely shredded those in
> just for the extra veggies. Powdered dried mushrooms also work well to
> thicken. I like the kind they used to sell at Costco in a large jar. Not
> sure they still do. But I didn't have any. Had I had some fresh mushrooms
> I would have shredded those in as well. I figure any extra veggies I can
> get in there without anyone noticing is good! I did shred a few baby
> carrots in there. I got this tip from Mitch at the hot dog place that used
> to be in Lynnwood, called Mitch's. I don't like hot dogs so he used to make
> me spaghetti. The sauce tasted nicely sweet and he said this was because of
> the added shredded carrot. I did get into an argument with an Italian lady
> a few weeks ago about this. She said she can't stand it when people do
> that. *shrug*
> I also added a squirt of lemon juice to help make it sweeter. My mom always
> did this as did my MIL who is Italian. I think it is something common to do
> for people of their age. I don't think I've ever seen a recipe that calls
> for it although I have looked it up on the Internet and people do it. I
> also added a pinch of cinnamon. I read somewhere that is done in the North
> of Italy. Seems to add sweetness as well. And I will add a splash of the
> cooking water to help thicken it. I learned this from various TV chefs such
> as Lidia Bastianich, Marianne Esposito and Nick Stellino.
> The other seasonings I used tonight were mostly oregano, a bit of rosemary,
> a bit of garlic, salt and pepper. My husband and daughter like it heavy on
> the garlic but I do not. I can tolerate a bit of garlic but any more seems
> to mess with my stomach.
> So do you have any secret things you add to your sauce when you make it from
> scratch? Ooh! There's my timer. Must go check my pasta. Am using whole
> wheat stuff from Whole Foods. The twisted kind. Can't remember the name.
Parsley, and lots of it. I usually add a whole bunch of Italian
parsley with stems tied with kitchen string- fish them out when done
cooking.
merryb wrote:
> On Apr 9, 7:10 pm, "Julie Bove" <julieb...@frontier.com> wrote:
>> Back in the day I always made my own sauce. I used recipes.
>> Sometimes even weird ones. One involved just regular plain fresh
>> tomatoes and milk. It came from a very old cookbook. My Italian
>> husband loved it! Most of my sauces were cooked for several hours if
>> all day. In those days there was usually no meat. But my husband is
>> a meat lover. So if I am cooking for
>> him I will often add meat.
>> Tonight I am making a quick sauce. I am using some organic canned
>> tomato sauce from Costco that really should have been used by April
>> 1st. Shhh... Don't tell my daughter! I saw a teensy bit of rust
>> forming at the edges of the cans but the product wasn't affected.
>> To help thicken the sauce I added some freeze dried chopped onions
>> and red peppers. I learned to do this on my own. This will also add
>> extra veggies. If I had any zucchini or summer squash, I would had
>> finely shredded those in just for the extra veggies. Powdered dried
>> mushrooms also work well to thicken. I like the kind they used to
>> sell at Costco in a large jar. Not sure they still do. But I didn't
>> have any. Had I had some fresh mushrooms
>> I would have shredded those in as well. I figure any extra veggies I
>> can get in there without anyone noticing is good! I did shred a few
>> baby carrots in there. I got this tip from Mitch at the hot dog
>> place that used to be in Lynnwood, called Mitch's. I don't like hot
>> dogs so he used to make me spaghetti. The sauce tasted nicely sweet
>> and he said this was because of the added shredded carrot. I did get
>> into an argument with an Italian lady a few weeks ago about this.
>> She said she can't stand it when people do that. *shrug*
>> I also added a squirt of lemon juice to help make it sweeter. My mom
>> always did this as did my MIL who is Italian. I think it is
>> something common to do for people of their age. I don't think I've
>> ever seen a recipe that calls for it although I have looked it up on
>> the Internet and people do it. I also added a pinch of cinnamon. I
>> read somewhere that is done in the North of Italy. Seems to add
>> sweetness as well. And I will add a splash of the cooking water to
>> help thicken it. I learned this from various TV chefs such as Lidia
>> Bastianich, Marianne Esposito and Nick Stellino.
>> The other seasonings I used tonight were mostly oregano, a bit of
>> rosemary, a bit of garlic, salt and pepper. My husband and daughter
>> like it heavy on the garlic but I do not. I can tolerate a bit of
>> garlic but any more seems to mess with my stomach.
>> So do you have any secret things you add to your sauce when you make
>> it from scratch? Ooh! There's my timer. Must go check my pasta. Am
>> using whole wheat stuff from Whole Foods. The twisted kind. Can't
>> remember the name.
> Parsley, and lots of it. I usually add a whole bunch of Italian
> parsley with stems tied with kitchen string- fish them out when done
> cooking.
Oh snap! I forgot the parsley! How could I do that? Anyway the end result was very good.
On Apr 9, 11:49 pm, Sqwertz <swe...@cluemail.compost> wrote:
> At least WE know how to spell it.
Got me. But to me EEVO sounds better than EVOO. I'm a sound
guy. You're more into sight. I don't harp on people's misspellings
or other grammar mistakes. If I did I'm sure I would find a few
mistakes in your posts. I'm not into such games. But thanks for
making the correction - I just know you did it to be helpful - not to
be a wise guy.
I always start with Prego chunky spaghetti sauce for the base, and add a
pkg. of spaghetti seasoning to it, Worcestershire sauce, lots of wine
(no particular kind, just what I have on hand, but not a sweet wine) a
tbsp. sugar, grated carrot, diced green pepper and onion, lots of minced
fresh garlic, sliced fresh mushrooms, fennel seed, basil, bay leaves,
and some season salt & pepper, but I go light on the salt. I used a lot
of lean ground beef (browned) rather than make meatballs, and I also add
a couple kinds of sliced sausage, such as beef Polish sausage. and I
bring that to a boil to cook out some of the fat; drain. I let the sauce
simmer a long time, as the longer the better.
I never add any kind of oil, or butter to the sauce, but do toss
somechopped parsley and butter to the cooked spaghetti (I like the thin
and I break it in half before cooking).
> I always start with Prego chunky spaghetti sauce for the base, and add a
> pkg. of spaghetti seasoning to it, Worcestershire sauce, lots of wine
> (no particular kind, just what I have on hand, but not a sweet wine) a
> tbsp. sugar, grated carrot, diced green pepper and onion, lots of minced
> fresh garlic, sliced fresh mushrooms, fennel seed, basil, bay leaves,
> and some season salt & pepper, but I go light on the salt. I used a lot
> of lean ground beef (browned) rather than make meatballs, and I also add
> a couple kinds of sliced sausage, such as beef Polish sausage. and I
> bring that to a boil to cook out some of the fat; drain. I let the sauce
> simmer a long time, as the longer the better.
> I never add any kind of oil, or butter to the sauce, but do toss
> somechopped parsley and butter to the cooked spaghetti (I like the thin
> and I break it in half before cooking).
> On Mon, 9 Apr 2012 19:10:57 -0700, Julie Bove wrote:
> > So do you have any secret things you add to your sauce when you make it from
> > scratch?
> EVOO. Somebody here posted a recipe about 15-20 years ago that
> included what I thought was an ungodly amount of extra virgin olive
> oil. The shole idea of EVOO in pasta sauce was foreign to me. It's
> probably the first piece of good advice I ever used here. You can
> also add butter (not margarine, please!).
> BTW: I read the first sentence of the first paragraphs you posted,
> then decided just to skip down to the bottom where there would
> probably be a question. If I read all that stuff in between then I'd
> feel too compelled to comment on some other oddity(s) of yours and
> never answer the question. Just sayin.
> -sw
I think it's obvious to use EVOO on a good tomato sauce. I use a lot.
cheers
Pandora
> Back in the day I always made my own sauce. I used recipes. Sometimes even
> weird ones. One involved just regular plain fresh tomatoes and milk. It
> came from a very old cookbook. My Italian husband loved it! Most of my
> sauces were cooked for several hours if all day. In those days there was
> usually no meat. But my husband is a meat lover. So if I am cooking for
> him I will often add meat.
> Tonight I am making a quick sauce. I am using some organic canned tomato
> sauce from Costco that really should have been used by April 1st. Shhh...
> Don't tell my daughter! I saw a teensy bit of rust forming at the edges of
> the cans but the product wasn't affected.
> To help thicken the sauce I added some freeze dried chopped onions and red
> peppers. I learned to do this on my own. This will also add extra veggies.
> If I had any zucchini or summer squash, I would had finely shredded those in
> just for the extra veggies. Powdered dried mushrooms also work well to
> thicken. I like the kind they used to sell at Costco in a large jar. Not
> sure they still do. But I didn't have any. Had I had some fresh mushrooms
> I would have shredded those in as well. I figure any extra veggies I can
> get in there without anyone noticing is good! I did shred a few baby
> carrots in there. I got this tip from Mitch at the hot dog place that used
> to be in Lynnwood, called Mitch's. I don't like hot dogs so he used to make
> me spaghetti. The sauce tasted nicely sweet and he said this was because of
> the added shredded carrot. I did get into an argument with an Italian lady
> a few weeks ago about this. She said she can't stand it when people do
> that. *shrug*
> I also added a squirt of lemon juice to help make it sweeter. My mom always
> did this as did my MIL who is Italian. I think it is something common to do
> for people of their age. I don't think I've ever seen a recipe that calls
> for it although I have looked it up on the Internet and people do it. I
> also added a pinch of cinnamon. I read somewhere that is done in the North
> of Italy. Seems to add sweetness as well. And I will add a splash of the
> cooking water to help thicken it. I learned this from various TV chefs such
> as Lidia Bastianich, Marianne Esposito and Nick Stellino.
> The other seasonings I used tonight were mostly oregano, a bit of rosemary,
> a bit of garlic, salt and pepper. My husband and daughter like it heavy on
> the garlic but I do not. I can tolerate a bit of garlic but any more seems
> to mess with my stomach.
> So do you have any secret things you add to your sauce when you make it from
> scratch? Ooh! There's my timer. Must go check my pasta. Am using whole
> wheat stuff from Whole Foods. The twisted kind. Can't remember the name.
Cinnamon like nothern italians do???? It's new for me, like lemon
inside a tomato sauce!!!!! Well, I think you have made a vegetarian
ragù!
My secret for tomato sauce is a little bit of sugar. My ancient aunt
taught me! It helps to eliminate acidule taste of tomatoes, some times
she used also "bicarbonato di soda" for the same purpose. Then, when I
make only a simple tomato sauce, I put alwais and only oregano. Always
hot chili pepper and fresh ground black pepper. I usually cook for 30
minutes, but sometimes you find some tomato sauces which are too
dense, so I have to add some water to allow prolongation of cooking
time.
cheers
Pandora
On Apr 9, 10:49 pm, Sqwertz <swe...@cluemail.compost> wrote:
> On Mon, 9 Apr 2012 20:13:32 -0700 (PDT), Tommy Joe wrote:
> > I think some people just like typing EEVO, makes them feel like
> > they're a member of a special cult or something,
Pandora wrote:
> On 10 Apr, 04:10, "Julie Bove" <julieb...@frontier.com> wrote:
>> Back in the day I always made my own sauce. I used recipes.
>> Sometimes even weird ones. One involved just regular plain fresh
>> tomatoes and milk. It came from a very old cookbook. My Italian
>> husband loved it! Most of my sauces were cooked for several hours if
>> all day. In those days there was usually no meat. But my husband is
>> a meat lover. So if I am cooking for
>> him I will often add meat.
>> Tonight I am making a quick sauce. I am using some organic canned
>> tomato sauce from Costco that really should have been used by April
>> 1st. Shhh... Don't tell my daughter! I saw a teensy bit of rust
>> forming at the edges of the cans but the product wasn't affected.
>> To help thicken the sauce I added some freeze dried chopped onions
>> and red peppers. I learned to do this on my own. This will also add
>> extra veggies. If I had any zucchini or summer squash, I would had
>> finely shredded those in just for the extra veggies. Powdered dried
>> mushrooms also work well to thicken. I like the kind they used to
>> sell at Costco in a large jar. Not sure they still do. But I didn't
>> have any. Had I had some fresh mushrooms
>> I would have shredded those in as well. I figure any extra veggies I
>> can get in there without anyone noticing is good! I did shred a few
>> baby carrots in there. I got this tip from Mitch at the hot dog
>> place that used to be in Lynnwood, called Mitch's. I don't like hot
>> dogs so he used to make me spaghetti. The sauce tasted nicely sweet
>> and he said this was because of the added shredded carrot. I did get
>> into an argument with an Italian lady a few weeks ago about this.
>> She said she can't stand it when people do that. *shrug*
>> I also added a squirt of lemon juice to help make it sweeter. My mom
>> always did this as did my MIL who is Italian. I think it is
>> something common to do for people of their age. I don't think I've
>> ever seen a recipe that calls for it although I have looked it up on
>> the Internet and people do it. I also added a pinch of cinnamon. I
>> read somewhere that is done in the North of Italy. Seems to add
>> sweetness as well. And I will add a splash of the cooking water to
>> help thicken it. I learned this from various TV chefs such as Lidia
>> Bastianich, Marianne Esposito and Nick Stellino.
>> The other seasonings I used tonight were mostly oregano, a bit of
>> rosemary, a bit of garlic, salt and pepper. My husband and daughter
>> like it heavy on the garlic but I do not. I can tolerate a bit of
>> garlic but any more seems to mess with my stomach.
>> So do you have any secret things you add to your sauce when you make
>> it from scratch? Ooh! There's my timer. Must go check my pasta. Am
>> using whole wheat stuff from Whole Foods. The twisted kind. Can't
>> remember the name.
> Cinnamon like nothern italians do???? It's new for me, like lemon
> inside a tomato sauce!!!!! Well, I think you have made a vegetarian
> ragù!
> My secret for tomato sauce is a little bit of sugar. My ancient aunt
> taught me! It helps to eliminate acidule taste of tomatoes, some times
> she used also "bicarbonato di soda" for the same purpose. Then, when I
> make only a simple tomato sauce, I put alwais and only oregano. Always
> hot chili pepper and fresh ground black pepper. I usually cook for 30
> minutes, but sometimes you find some tomato sauces which are too
> dense, so I have to add some water to allow prolongation of cooking
> time.
> cheers
> Pandora
>> Back in the day I always made my own sauce. I used recipes.
>> Sometimes even weird ones. snip
> And I will add a splash of the
>> cooking water to help thicken it. I learned this from various TV
>> chefs such as Lidia Bastianich, Marianne Esposito and Nick Stellino.
> snip
> The ladle of cooking water is used to 'thin' the sauce, not thicken
> it. Yes. I have seen all those chefs discuss this.
> Janet US
The last chef I saw said it thickens the sauce because of the starch in it.
On 4/10/12 3:31 AM, Judy Haffner wrote:
(I like the thin
> and I break it in half before cooking).
> Judy
What a PITA to eat though when people break it up. Leave it long so one can twirl it properly instead of having all those short pieces floppin' about to make a mess.
On 2012-04-10, Goomba <goomb...@comcast.net> wrote:
> What a PITA to eat though when people break it up. Leave it long so one > can twirl it properly instead of having all those short pieces floppin' > about to make a mess.
OTOH, what a PIA to hafta twirl a fork inna spoon or against the
botton of the plate so one can finally wrap/manage an oversized lump
of pasta well enough to stuff it into one's overstretched maw, yet
still have a few hanging strands dripping sauce all over the place.
> On 10 Apr, 04:10, "Julie Bove" <julieb...@frontier.com> wrote:
> > Back in the day I always made my own sauce. I used recipes. Sometimes even
> > weird ones. One involved just regular plain fresh tomatoes and milk. It
> > came from a very old cookbook. My Italian husband loved it! Most of my
> > sauces were cooked for several hours if all day. In those days there was
> > usually no meat. But my husband is a meat lover. So if I am cooking for
> > him I will often add meat.
> > Tonight I am making a quick sauce. I am using some organic canned tomato
> > sauce from Costco that really should have been used by April 1st. Shhh...
> > Don't tell my daughter! I saw a teensy bit of rust forming at the edges of
> > the cans but the product wasn't affected.
> > To help thicken the sauce I added some freeze dried chopped onions and red
> > peppers. I learned to do this on my own. This will also add extra veggies.
> > If I had any zucchini or summer squash, I would had finely shredded those in
> > just for the extra veggies. Powdered dried mushrooms also work well to
> > thicken. I like the kind they used to sell at Costco in a large jar. Not
> > sure they still do. But I didn't have any. Had I had some fresh mushrooms
> > I would have shredded those in as well. I figure any extra veggies I can
> > get in there without anyone noticing is good! I did shred a few baby
> > carrots in there. I got this tip from Mitch at the hot dog place that used
> > to be in Lynnwood, called Mitch's. I don't like hot dogs so he used to make
> > me spaghetti. The sauce tasted nicely sweet and he said this was because of
> > the added shredded carrot. I did get into an argument with an Italian lady
> > a few weeks ago about this. She said she can't stand it when people do
> > that. *shrug*
> > I also added a squirt of lemon juice to help make it sweeter. My mom always
> > did this as did my MIL who is Italian. I think it is something common to do
> > for people of their age. I don't think I've ever seen a recipe that calls
> > for it although I have looked it up on the Internet and people do it. I
> > also added a pinch of cinnamon. I read somewhere that is done in the North
> > of Italy. Seems to add sweetness as well. And I will add a splash of the
> > cooking water to help thicken it. I learned this from various TV chefs such
> > as Lidia Bastianich, Marianne Esposito and Nick Stellino.
> > The other seasonings I used tonight were mostly oregano, a bit of rosemary,
> > a bit of garlic, salt and pepper. My husband and daughter like it heavy on
> > the garlic but I do not. I can tolerate a bit of garlic but any more seems
> > to mess with my stomach.
> > So do you have any secret things you add to your sauce when you make it from
> > scratch? Ooh! There's my timer. Must go check my pasta. Am using whole
> > wheat stuff from Whole Foods. The twisted kind. Can't remember the name.
> Cinnamon like nothern italians do???? It's new for me, like lemon
> inside a tomato sauce!!!!! Well, I think you have made a vegetarian
> ragù!
> My secret for tomato sauce is a little bit of sugar. My ancient aunt
> taught me! It helps to eliminate acidule taste of tomatoes, some times
> she used also "bicarbonato di soda" for the same purpose. Then, when I
> make only a simple tomato sauce, I put alwais and only oregano. Always
> hot chili pepper and fresh ground black pepper. I usually cook for 30
> minutes, but sometimes you find some tomato sauces which are too
> dense, so I have to add some water to allow prolongation of cooking
> time.
> cheers
> Pandora
Alwais: not trying to be funny, but is this a typo or some secret
ingregient?
I like only a little oregano in my sauce, but plenty of basil. I
think the secret to a great sauce is to have meat cooked in it - I
love country spare ribs in mine. Browned first, of course. They get
fall-off-the-bone tender.
>> What a PITA to eat though when people break it up. Leave it long so one >> can twirl it properly instead of having all those short pieces floppin' >> about to make a mess.
>OTOH, what a PIA to hafta twirl a fork inna spoon or against the
>botton of the plate so one can finally wrap/manage an oversized lump
>of pasta well enough to stuff it into one's overstretched maw, yet
>still have a few hanging strands dripping sauce all over the place.
