OT - Marcella Hazan's Spaghetti Sauce

Botch

http://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1015178-marcella-hazans-tomato-sauce
 
Saw this recipe on the NY Times website, and kept meaning to try it, even though it leaves out a lot of what I usually put into tomato gravy.  It just has a 28-oz can of Marzano tomatoes, an onion sliced in half (removed after simmering), 5 Tablespoons of butter (!!!), and salt.  
Dang it is delicious!! I may be bringing back my herbs, spices, and garlic to the recipe, but I'm definitely sticking with the butter from now on.  Great dish for days like today, we're having a ThunderSnow storm (which I've only seen in utard).  

Judy Mayberry

+1! This is one of the biggest surprises in cooking. Absolutely delicious.You have to be a certain age to even remember who Marcella Hazan was, and I have her cookbook.

DoubleEgger

Me and butter have a long term love affair. I'll be giving this a whirl. Thanks for sharing. 

Carolina Q

Atsa lotta butter! But no garlic?! That can't be right. Still, if Judy says it's good, I'll try it.

My go to is from Lidia Bastianich. A marinara recipe that is just oil, garlic, tomatoes, salt, red pepper flakes and basil. Just as good as a pizza sauce as it is on pasta or meatballs.

http://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2007/03/lidias-marinara-sauce.html

Maybe I'll replace Lidia's oil with buttah!

Botch

Carolina Q said:

Atsa lotta butter! But no garlic?! That can't be right. Still, if Judy says it's good, I'll try it.  

I was suspicious, too, of taking the onion OUT of the sauce (I normally dice a whole yellow onion, and leave it all in, for each 28 oz of tomatoes), and the garlic brings even more of a punch (I normally use 3-4 cloves, depending on their size).  I guess the point here is to feature the taste of the tomatoes (and I'm anxious to try this next summer with farmer's market plum tomatoes, even though I usually don't cook/eat spaghetti in the summer).  

Carolina Q

Only 3-4 cloves of garlic? Per 35 oz can of tomatoes, Lidia calls for EIGHT!!

Eggcelsior

I saw/heard Thundersnow for the first time last winter. That was some surreal stuff.

blasting

Interesting @Botch .  I got her book a few months back, because it was one of the highest rated Italian books out there.  I couldn't make it more than 5 pages in - the condescending tone made it unreadable.

But there must be a reason so many people love her - the food must be good.  On your advice, I'm gonna make my gravy this way next time.  Thanks for the review.

Judy Mayberry

Don't throw the cooked onion away...it's delicious! I just gobble it whole, but you could dice it up into the sauce.

I made Lidia's sauce recipe recommended by @Carolina Q, but to me Marcella Hazan's is far better. I just use good canned tomatoes, different brands, so it's gotta be the butter.

Botch

Judy Mayberry said:

Don't throw the cooked onion away...it's delicious! I just gobble it whole, but you could dice it up into the sauce.

I did save my onion halves yesterday, wasn't sure what I'd do with them.  Several of the outer rings came off during simmering, and a lot of sauce stuck to them.
This morning, I was preparing to make a cheese omelette for breakfast and I saw those onions in the fridge.    I minced the onions, stirred in some italian herbs, and put the resulting chutney into the omelette (and switched from cheddar to parmesan cheese).  Was tasty, but I should've heated up the chutney first; near-refrigerator-cold it cooled off the omelette too much.  I could see using this on some sammiches, too!  

Botch

blasting said:

Interesting @Botch .  I got her book a few months back, because it was one of the highest rated Italian books out there.  I couldn't make it more than 5 pages in - the condescending tone made it unreadable.

At the risk of sounding racist, I've noticed just about every Italian cookbook I own (at least a dozen) are written in that same condescending tone.  Odd, she's had a PBS program on before and she doesn't come across that way at all.  Dunno.  

Hans61

Never made my own spaghetti sauce -just stared this year making my own Bbq sauces and salad dressings may have to give this a try

Carolina Q

Judy Mayberry said:

I made Lidia's sauce recipe recommended by @Carolina Q, but to me Marcella Hazan's is far better. I just use good canned tomatoes, different brands, so it's gotta be the butter.

Tonight, I tried a combination of Lidia's and Marcella's sauces. Basically, Lidia's recipe, but with butter instead of olive oil. I did add Marcella's onion though. 

Hands down, @Botch and @Judy Mayberry notwithstanding... for me, Lidia's recipe is better. Evoo instead of butter, onion not required (though it didn't hurt anything).

Little Steven

I get so confused by the Italian/American-Italian/Canadian-Italian terms for Marinara/Gravy/Pommodori. About ten years ago on a cooking show or the Sopranos I first heard the term "gravy" for pommodori. Fascinated, I started to make it. Then I read a recipe for a take on the sauce that San Francesco's( the originators of the Toronto veal sandwich) used that had lard in it. I've since been adding an unsmoked pork hock to all of my red sauce and I get total raves about them. I pull all the grease off them at the end but something is left at the end that is indescribably good. I get the idea about the butter. 

Botch

I'm slowly going thru my new copy of Anthony Bourdain's new cookbook Appetites, and tonight came upon his favorite tomato sauce recipe.  It essentially mirrors my own, and he uses a full stick of butter (8 Tblspns vs. 5) but he adds a few fresh plum tomatoes to the 28 oz of canned, so the ratio is essentially the same.  
My own recipe, tweaked for years and "finalized" (for me) about 10 years ago, includes 1/2 tsp ground fennel, which neither Bourdain nor Hazan includes.  
I'll be doing another batch next weekend, with more butter, and see what happens.  

Judy Mayberry

Well, @Botch, we're waiting for YOUR recipe!

fishlessman

ok, 5 more tbls of butter in the sauce to go with the whole stick i put into the pound of pasta i can do this. i have 8 quarts sm tomatoes canned from this years garden, this is going to kill me

Judy Mayberry

@Botch: I was just in Costco and took a look at Bourdain's Appetites. For his Tomato Sauce, he only uses 2 tablespoons of butter, not a whole 8-Tbsp. stick. It's the recipe with the 10 plum tomatoes and the 28-oz. can of whole tomatoes, so that must be the one you mentioned. Whoo...that's a relief.

Botch

@Judy Mayberry
You're correct, I read "1/4 stick" as "1/4 lb", d'Oh!!  

caliking

Botch said:

I'm slowly going thru my new copy of Anthony Bourdain's new cookbook Appetites, and tonight came upon his favorite tomato sauce recipe.  It essentially mirrors my own, and he uses a full stick of butter (8 Tblspns vs. 5) but he adds a few fresh plum tomatoes to the 28 oz of canned, so the ratio is essentially the same.  
My own recipe, tweaked for years and "finalized" (for me) about 10 years ago, includes 1/2 tsp ground fennel, which neither Bourdain nor Hazan includes.  
I'll be doing another batch next weekend, with more butter, and see what happens.  

Someone here ( can't remember who) posted their recipe which has star anise in it. I tried it and have made sure to include one star anise (or more depending on the quantity of sauce) when i make red sauce now. It adds wonderful flavor. 

Maybe it was @paqman ?

paqman

caliking said:

Botch said:

I'm slowly going thru my new copy of Anthony Bourdain's new cookbook Appetites, and tonight came upon his favorite tomato sauce recipe.  It essentially mirrors my own, and he uses a full stick of butter (8 Tblspns vs. 5) but he adds a few fresh plum tomatoes to the 28 oz of canned, so the ratio is essentially the same.  
My own recipe, tweaked for years and "finalized" (for me) about 10 years ago, includes 1/2 tsp ground fennel, which neither Bourdain nor Hazan includes.  
I'll be doing another batch next weekend, with more butter, and see what happens.  

Someone here ( can't remember who) posted their recipe which has star anise in it. I tried it and have made sure to include one star anise (or more depending on the quantity of sauce) when i make red sauce now. It adds wonderful flavor. 

Maybe it was @paqman ?

@caliking I add star anise to my "pizza" sauce so it could have been me.  I call it pizza sauce but we also use it in lasagnas and on pasta.  I posted it here last summer but I can't find it.

Judy Mayberry

@ pacman: It was easy to find:

http://eggheadforum.com/discussion/1186265/ot-homemade-pizza-sauce-with-san-marzano-tomatoes-from-my-garden

caliking

paqman said:

@caliking I add star anise to my "pizza" sauce so it could have been me.  I call it pizza sauce but we also use it in lasagnas and on pasta.  I posted it here last summer but I can't find it.

I must have goofed and missed that it was pizza sauce. I've been adding star anise to my pasta sauce since then and it really takes it up a notch IMO, so I have to thank you for that tip