Little Secrets for a More Flavorful Tomato Sauce

Tomatoes. What, exactly, is a tomato? Fruit of vegetable? Well, whatever it is, we know that tomatoes are wonderful for making different kinds of sauces. Whether it is a savory Italian sauce for pasta, or a zesty, Hispanic sauce made from stewed tomatoes (sofrito), we have come to love and understand the taste and variation of tomatoes. But there is a little more to tomatoes than the bright color and firm, plump flesh. When using tomatoes for cooking, there are a few tips that you should know, which can prove to enhance the flavor of your dishes by at least a measurable amount.

If you are going to make any kind of fresh tomato sauce, you should rely on plum tomatoes, San Marzano tomatoes (which would be harder and more expensive to obtain because they are grown in Neapolitan, volcanic soil!) or even Roma tomatoes, to enhance the flavor of your dish. These tomatoes have the least amount of seeds, and even lower acidity rates, which give you a much sweeter, delectable sauce. If you use tomatoes that give you sauces which are not so sweet, you can always either add a pinch of sugar or even add a pat of butter. Butter is usually milk-based, so adding a pat of butter can help lessen the acidity, as the sugar helps the sauce obtain a sweeter taste.

When cooking tomatoes, you should never cook them in pans that are made from aluminum. And to stir your tomato mixture, you should always use wooden spoons. The metals from regular spoons and pans that contain aluminum react with the acids in tomatoes, and results in that terrible, metallic taste that we all hate in our favorite pasta dishes. Speaking of cookware for tomato sauces, try to use deep sauce pans for making flavorful tomato sauces. This will enable you to slowly cook your sauce, and help all the flavors that you have added, and the flavors of the tomato, to meld and become one, exquisite sauce full of a taste explosion. Letting the sauce simmer in a non-aluminum sauce for two to three hours will give you a thick and hearty sauce that you and your guests will love. But keep in mind that if you're making a tomato sauce, you should cook the sauce for at least twenty minutes, unless there is meat involved. In that case, give yourself more time to cook the sauce. If you notice that your sauce is too watery, all you have to do is add a tablespoon or two, depending on the amount you're working with, of tomato paste to the sauce. Tomato paste will thicken the sauce without affecting the flavor.

To add flavor to your sauce, there are many ingredients that will enhance the flavors of the tomatoes you have chosen. You can always add your favorite red wine, or even sprigs of cilantro, rosemary, or parsley. Mushrooms are good options as well, and even grated cheese can bring about an unexpected, yet delicious flavor in tomato sauces. Try to opt for fresh cheeses as opposed to cheeses that have been sitting on the supermarket shelves for a while. Just always be careful about the amount of salt you decide to add to your tomato sauce.

Whether you're just beginning to learn about the wonderful uses of tomato, or even if you're a pro, I hope these tips have helped you learn a little more about how to improve the flavor of your tomato sauces, and have everyone at your dinner party asking for more! Bon a petit!