Tomato sauce - general principles and methods of preparation
Tomato is an essential ingredient in many dishes. It is unlikely that one can find folk cuisine in the world in which it is not used. As Comrade Saakhov said, it may be somewhere in the mountains, but not in our areas. More than 400 years ago, a tomato migrated to us from South America, but it didn’t settle in the menu right away. At first they even tried to poison people. The ancient Indians called tomatoes "matl", probably from this came the consonant with the word "tomatoes".
And the tomato is pomo d'oro, a golden apple in Italian. The basis of many additives to dishes that give them juiciness and a special taste is tomato (or products prepared on its basis - for example, tomato). Sauces (gravy) are no exception. Tomato sauce, as a rule, contains a wide range of spices and additives. The main (base) sauces are prepared according to a generally accepted recipe, additional sauces have ingredients that change the overall taste.
Tomato Sauce - Food Preparation
Fresh tomato tomato sauce is made exclusively from ripe juicy tomatoes in a rich red color. Brown, greenish, streaked, as well as those that are grown not in real sunlight, but under bright greenhouse lamps, will not work. Many recipes include the preparation of tomato juice with pulp. Tomatoes are wiped through a sieve, peel and seeds are separated. This is a rather complicated process. If you scald tomatoes with boiling water, the process will go much faster - the peel is easily removed, and the seeds can be removed with a spoon if you cut the fruit in half.
Tomato Sauce - The Best Recipes
Recipe 1: Basic Tomato Sauce Recipe
Of course, the best tomato sauce is obtained in the season when ripe tomatoes are filled with the natural energy of the sun. But in winter, you can successfully use tomato or concentrated tomato juice, which should be boiled. The result will be great anyway.
Ingredients: olive oil (1 tablespoon), garlic (1 clove), herbs or dried herbs, onion, tomato pulp, rubbed through a sieve (500 grams), you can also take tomatoes in their own juice (650 grams) or ripe tomatoes (800 gram).
Cooking method
Cut into small pieces tomatoes in their own juice or mashed tomatoes - this will be the basis of the sauce. In a frying pan or a small saucepan in olive oil, fry finely chopped garlic, be sure to over low heat. Then add finely chopped onion and passer until soft and transparent. Add the tomato base and herbs. For example, rosemary and bay leaf are selected for meat, oregano, basil are perfect for pizza, do not let thyme, sage, marjoram out of your attention. Minimum fire for about an hour - the sauce thickens in this, and the sauce acquires a unique taste. Add salt and ground pepper.
Recipe 2: Tomato Sauce with Broth
This sauce can also be the basis for more saturated dishes, for example, with wine or bell pepper. But in itself it is quite tasty and goes well with meat dishes and side dishes.
Ingredients: strained meat broth (250 grams), butter (25 grams), flour (13 grams, 1 spoon), carrots (20 grams), onions (20 grams), parsley, tomato (250 grams), sugar (5 grams), a pinch of citric acid, black pepper and bay leaf.
Cooking method
In butter, prepare a hot white sauté, dilute it with strained broth. Tomato puree with roots and onions are passaged separately. Mix both sides and add sugar, citric acid, lavrushka, salt, black pepper peas. Cook all 30 minutes. It is advisable to strain the sauce, heat again to a boil and season with oil.
Examples of dishes with tomato sauce
Recipe 1: Italian Pasta with Tomato Sauce
From these products, 5-6 servings of aromatic pasta are obtained, the taste of which is largely determined by tomato sauce, or rather those additives that give it severity, piquancy and pungency. Spaghetti of any manufacturer is suitable, but the best, of course, are Italian, however, their cost is sometimes an order of magnitude higher. But the taste is different. By the way, domestic pasta products today are produced in a huge assortment and of high enough quality, so that you can always pick up something cheaper, the quality is not worse.
Ingredients: spaghetti (1 pack, 450-500 grams), olive oil, salt, garlic (6-7 cloves), sugar (half a spoon), tomatoes (4-5 pieces), sweet pepper (half large or 1 small).
Cooking method
Boil spaghetti in three liters of water. Salt is put to taste, but half a tablespoon of salt is enough. Pour a tablespoon of vegetable oil into the water. Cook 10-13 minutes at the end of cooking, you can try spaghetti.
Sauce. Wash the tomato, remove the stem and cut into quarters. Spread in a blender with pepper and garlic. More garlic - more savory food. Grind the sauce and pour into a saucepan. Salt, add half a teaspoon of sugar. Boil. In a thick-walled pan, heat the olive oil and a few crushed cloves of garlic. Put cooked spaghetti in a skillet or pan and heat with oil and garlic for several minutes. Pour tomato sauce in serving plates.
Recipe 2: Meatballs in Tomato Sauce
Meatballs without sauce will be dry. The sauce asks for them, tomato - just perfect. For meatballs we take beef or pork-beef mixture, for gravy we use tomatoes in our own juice.
Ingredients: ground beef (700 grams), petioles, carrots, onions, eggs, tomatoes in their own juice (canned, 400 grams), breadcrumbs (50 grams), white dry wine (60 ml.), lemon juice (1 tbsp. spoon), basil (1/4 tsp), salt, pepper.
Cooking method
First, prepare the meatballs - mix the egg with minced meat, breadcrumbs and 60 grams of water. Knead and roll the meatballs well. Fry in vegetable oil on all sides. Put in a dish, fry the carrots in oil in vegetable oil, cut into thin slices (can be semicircles), pour wine, lemon juice and tomatoes, mashed with a fork, with juice. Bring to a boil, add onions, celery, meatballs, simmer for another 20 minutes.
Tomato sauce
Ingredients can significantly change the smell and taste of the base sauce, make it more saturated and mouth-watering. Try adding mushrooms, for example - ordinary champignons, ceps, russules will do. Mix the sauce according to the main recipe with the mushrooms fried and chopped in a blender, pour in 50 ml of dry white wine, boil, and your sauce just can not be recognized! It perfectly sets off the taste of fillet, meat cutlets, meatballs, entrecote, boiled meat, veal and poultry dishes.
