Hello and welcome back to The Stone Soup Cook–so glad you’re here!
Today, I’m continuing my series on the foundational sauces of California Cuisine. Having covered mayonnaise, vinaigrette, salsa and pesto sauces in previous posts, I moved on to tomato sauce last week.
Tomatoes are an incredibly important crop in California. In fact, California produces between 90 and 95% of the processing tomatoes for the US, and about 1/3 of the world’s processing tomatoes, which are the tomatoes that are turned into diced and stewed tomatoes, as well as sauce and paste for the commercial trade. Hence, tomato sauce has earned its way onto the list of “mother” sauces of California Cuisine.
Last week, I shared my simple and quick tomato sauce inspired by a magical trip to one of my favorite cities in the world: Rome:
Today, I’m going to share another basic Italian tomato sauce, but this one is its long-processed cousin. This sauce simmers for at least four hours. It uses both fresh and canned tomatoes and has a bold, vibrant and very “tomatoey” flavor. I don’t generally use this sauce on its own, although you could. I find that it’s better as a base for other sauces or mixed with meat or vegetables. It’s very brightly flavored and it makes a wonderful counterpoint for mixing with a rich ragu sauce for a beautiful tomato-meat sauce, or when mixed with shredded beef for a bolognese sauce. It can also be mixed with fresh vegetables to make a beautiful topping for, say polenta. It’s also great as a quick pizza sauce when mixed with a little tomato paste and simmered for a few minutes.
It makes a lot and I freeze it in 1-quart bags for use when I need a quick base for a pasta sauce. For example, leftover braised short rib meat is divine when mixed into this sauce. I’ve even used leftover meatloaf mixed into this sauce for a makeshift spaghetti sauce.
So…like I said–it’s versatile! And now for the “zen” bit of this post:
I made a big pot of this sauce yesterday and I gave myself plenty of time to make it. I tend to short change myself on the joy of the preparation. I tend to not allow myself enough time to enjoy the process, when, really, I have the time to enjoy it. So yesterday, I started by preparing all the ingredients before starting to cook. I began by giving my knife a good honing on the sharpening steel and I prepped the fresh tomatoes first. It was a joy to slice effortlessly through the tough skins of the tomatoes and to produce nice, uniform cubes.
After that, I prepped the onions, the garlic, the parsley and the dried spices. I used the best olive oil I have on hand and enjoyed the smell of the onions and garlic sizzling in the hot oil, and then the sizzle, steam and heady fragrance when I added the tomatoes and tomato sauces. I enjoyed watching the green flecks of parsley cascade through the red sea of sauce as I stirred them in, and the satisfaction when I saw the flecks evenly dispersed.
There was no rushing around trying to prep the next ingredient while the previous one was being processed. I enjoyed the pleasure of adding each ingredient and experiencing in real time each stroke of my spatula, as the ingredients came together to create a deep, rich sauce. And then I waited. And I stirred. And I adjusted the temperature on the burner to make sure it was simmering at the perfect rate–not too fast, not too slow. And I watched as the sauce reduced by about a third, getting ever richer and more tomatoey. And I smelled as the brassy tomato smells ripened and softened into a bright, rich sauce.
I’m trying to live in the moment as much as possible these days. I find that the minutes stretch out in a pleasurable way to create a less hectic, calmer lifestyle. And this sauce is the perfect way to experience cooking–it requires planning and patience, and it’s well worth all the time and effort to have a zen cooking experience. This sauce is so lovely and such a great way to slow down and have the experience of really cooking–I highly recommend it.
Regardless of your personal cooking style, I do suggest, at least for this sauce, that you prep all the ingredients first. It does help with the overall process–it’s a lot of tomatoes to chop. Add in the onions and garlic and it’s a lot to try to do on the fly. And when it’s done, you’ll have like 5-6 quart bags to freeze for future use–which is a warm and cozy feeling on a busy day when you don’t have the time cook.
Tune in later in the week when I’ll share my recipe for ragu, which mixes with this sauce beautifully to create a wonderful tomato-meat sauce.
Until then,
Peace, love and good food,
Keri
