Clare Smyth is now chef patron at three-Michelin star Restaurant Gordon Ramsay. This simple yet stunning and tasty dish of coeur de boeuf tomato tartare with…
Question by Eve: What’s the difference between canned Italian tomatoes and regular canned tomatoes?
I’ve been looking for a good recipe for an authentic Italian marinara sauce, and I’ve noticed that many say to buy imported canned Italian tomatoes, and I’d like to know how they are different from the cans I see in the grocery store every day.
Also…any good sauce recipes to share? I have no problem being patient, so don’t exclude a recipe because it has to simmer for hours.
Thanks!
Best answer:
Answer by Hambone
most cooking shows will propose the use of San Marsano tomatoes, from that region of Italy. They believe they are of higher quality and sweet then tomatoes grown in the USA. I cannot argue, they are very good, but also pretty expensive. I personally have used them once for my marinara sauce, but have not convinced myself they are worth the extra money.
Here is my recipe for marinara sauce, which can be used by itself on pasta, but is also a tarting point for many tomato sauce dishes.
My Marinara Sauce
Makes 4 quarts
2 – 28 ounce cans tomato puree (never use tomato sauce)
2 – 18 ounce cans tomato paste
32 ounces water (approximately, add more or less to your thickness preference)
2 tbls minced garlic
2-3 bay leaves
1 tbls dried basil*
1 tbls dried parsley*
1 tbls dried oregano*
¼ tsp dried thyme*
¼ tsp dried sage*
Mix all ingredients in a 4-5 quart Dutch oven; bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Reduce heat, cover and simmer over very low heat several hours for flavors to meld, stirring occasionally. Do not let it boil too rapidly. Since tomato products seem to vary in sweetness, a couple teaspoons of sugar can be added if a little extra sweetness is desired.
This is a basic sauce, producing a flavor that I and many of my friends and family love. To some or all of this sauce can be added meat of any kind, vegetables of any kind, etc., to make a marinara, cacciatore, meat sauce, arrabiatta, whatever you prefer.
* I don’t really measure these ingredients. I just sprinkle onto the sauce until it looks like enough
What do you think? Answer below!
Find More Tomato Recipes Articles
Ta Ta!!!
There’s only one problem with meals like that. You can’t be hungry when you
walk in these restaurants
That thing looks amazing
ho. ly. shit.
Everytime I watch this video, I gain more and more appreciation for the
dish.
The name’s kinda wrong imho.. Coeur de boeuf tomato tartare is actually not
right..coeur de tomato tartare sounds right.. there’s no boeuf in this dish
other than the milk curd..
I’d rather walk into my garden and pick a ripe tomato, sprinkle a little
salt on it and eat it. It would taste more like a tomato which is the
whole point isn’t it?
What a complex way of eating tomatoes :)
Another great video from a great chef
I love the look of the dish and bet it tastes amazing but i really don’t
think this should be available in a Gordon Ramsay restaurant
I feel that a white porcelain plate will accentuate the beautiful fresh
colors far better than the transparent plate.
Yeap Laverstock Park
Sorry?
Erh
Really why not, it’s beautiful
I still don’t like that plate.
“Simple” doesn’t translate to “easy”, friend.
Vegetarian dish made right.
Hahaaa
English Buffalo milk…THERE ARE BUFFALOS IN ENGLAND?!
Rennet – enzyme that sets the milk ( makes it into to cheese basically ).
It naturally occurs in the cows stomach, but here she has vegetable rennet
very nice! what was the last thing added to the milk?
Liquid nitrogen @ Gordon Ramsay ??
Looks great and very inventive too. The restaurant seems to be changing
direction a little with less classic food than the food when Ramsay was
there?
Looks Stunning and fresh
There are thousands of different tomato varieties that are grown all over the world. They have different flavors. The Italian variety may taste different and maybe not. Best bet is to try a can of each and see if you can tell any difference. Most canned tomatoes are hybrid and have little flavor. Heirloom tomatoes have a much better taste, are more difficult to grow, and cost a lot more. To most tomato specialist, the difference is incredible. I grow 10 different varieties of heirlooms and cringe at the thought of eating a “grocery store” tomato. More than likely the “other” ingredients you add to the sauce makes the real taste difference, not the tomato.
The first gentleman is right, but to add some canned tomato’s are Roma an Italian type, some pack the regular round ones, they tend to be watery and have less flavour, the really nice San Marzano ones he mentioned are from around Mount Vesuvius, in the Naples region, they grow long and sweeter, because of the volcanic soil there grown in, I have used them and like them, but at $ 1.99 for a 28 oz can and the store type are 99 cents.
The key to a good sauce is long slow cooking, the patience to keep it going and using the best you can afford, I use canned crushed, paste and chopped tomato’s, fresh onions and garlic, season it at the end, adding only a bit of salt, I also add fresh basil, but it cannot be added to soon or it discolours, so for the flavour, I strip off the leaves and add the stem with a few bay leaves and dried oregano to the base sauce, remove the stems and add the fresh torn basil at the end or when serving, make a fair amount and jar or freeze for future use, it like wine improves with age.
@William C: You really must not be a tomato specialist to taste the difference between a Dutch industry tomato risen in a glasshouse and a traditional Spanish one harvested ripe.
Hello there, maybe i can be help full , It would be best if you can use fresh tomatoes, but canned peeled are just fine,or if you can only find it as sauce , i suggest you add a couple of fresh tomatoes diced, her is my recipe , 1 can of about 250 grams of peeled whole tomatoes, 1 clove of garlic,2 tablespoons of olive oil, Now add the oil to your pot dice your garlic and simmer for about 1 minute and don’t let the garlic burn or you will get a bitter taste to your sauce, add your tomatoes and cook on a very low flame or heat source for about 25 to 35 minutes , you will have to stir often , this is the basic marinara sauce , i love to add a small piece of chili pepper , but you can add anything of your choice,greetings chefnik Italy