LIDIA’S MARINARA SAUCE & BSJ’S TOMATO PREP TIPS
Marinara, that simplest of pasta sauces (no more than tomato, garlic, olive oil and a whisper of both hot pepper and basil) has become less a sauce than a shoehorn. Or, better, a “jarhorn.”
Store-bought marinara (to an Italian, the words are an utter contradiction in terms) is a New World way to get tomatoes to sneak across the plate other stuff like meat, cream, mushrooms or sweet basil. Or to jar the ghosts of certain styles: vodka-style, farmer’s market, classico, spicy, chunky or homemade.
“Homemade.” In a sell-by dated jar. Right.
The best marinara sauce—the true marinara sauce—is made in a skillet right before it’s eaten. Takes 20 minutes tops. It’s bright red (not kettle-cooked red) and smells of the perfumes of pomodoro, little else.
You can make marinara from scratch, too, even though the traditional good-quality canned whole tomatoes are just fine (as in the Bastianich recipe here). Five cups of peeled ripe, fresh tomatoes (about 4 large or 12 plum), chunked or large diced, and their run-off juice, equals the slightly less than 4 cups in a 28-ounce container of canned whole tomatoes. Just cook them down slightly before heading into the rest of the recipe.
Cook’s tip: How to peel ripe fresh tomatoes
Wash the tomatoes of any outside dirt or soil. With the point of a sharp paring knife, make a small X right at the center of the base of the tomato. Have ready a sink or large container of very cold (even slightly iced) water.
Using a slotted spoon or Asian “spider web” strainer/skimmer, gently lower the tomatoes (depending on size, 2-3 large or 4-5 medium) into a large pot of rapidly boiling water. Gently jiggle the tomatoes in the water, keeping an eye on the X at the base of each.
When the X begins to flap away from the flesh or the skin of the tomatoes cracks—this can take anywhere from 30 seconds to a minute—immediately lift the tomatoes from the water and dunk them into the cold water. Peel the skin from the tomatoes, slipping it off with your fingers or pulling at it with the blade of the paring knife.
RECIPE: Lidia’s Marinara Sauce
From lidiasitaly.com, by Lidia Bastianich. Makes about 3 1⁄2 cups, enough for 1 pound of pasta. Lidia Bastianich writes: “This is one of those sauces that you must try. Once you do, I assure you that you will make it one of your family’s standard recipes. It is quick, simple, and nutritionally sound, and this sauce is at the base of many other recipes. You can double or triple this recipe for big dinners, or you can freeze it and use it in future meals. It keeps in the freezer for a month or two.”
Ingredients
1⁄4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
7 garlic cloves, peeled and sliced
1 28-ounce can whole San Marzano tomatoes, crushed by hand
Pinch crushed red pepper flakes
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 fresh basil sprig
Directions
In a large skillet, over medium heat, heat the olive oil. When the oil is hot, add the garlic. Once the garlic is sizzling, add the tomatoes, slosh out the can with 1 cup water, and add that as well. Sprinkle in the red pepper flakes, and season with the salt. Submerge the basil sprig in the sauce.
Simmer the sauce until it is slightly thickened, about 15 minutes. Discard the basil sprig.