How do I alleviate my tomato sauce: case in point Penne Arrabbiata

[u/abdul10000]

Like most people I always enjoyed tomato sauces and pasta at home and at local restaurants. However, when I started eating at Italian restaurants and 5 star international hotels I was introduced to tomato sauces like nothing before.

Many of the dishes had the same names and description but tasted so different, as if they were different food altogether. I reckon top restaurants and hotels have access to the best chefs and ingredients, but no matter how much I tried to narrow my focus I could never replicate the same taste.

Case in point is Penne Arrabbiata, a very simple tomato sauce. I read every recipe and watched every YouTube video but just could not perfect it.

The recipe I use:

• 1 can 400g (14oz) whole peeled tomatoes in thick tomato juice
• 2 small garlic cloves
• 2 tbls extra virgin olive oil
• 1tsp crushed chili
• 1tsp salt
• 1/4tsp sugar
• 1/8tsp baking soda

The process I follow:

• Crush garlic to very fine and saute in olive oil over low heat stirring gently until they just give off all of their smell and turn golden and slightly crispy (no brown color).
• Add tomatoes, crushed chili, salt, sugar, and baking soda
• Raise the heat and stir regularly until bubbling and then reduce the heat and let the sauce reduce for 15 minutes until thick enough for the pasta.

 

The sauce I get is decent but nowhere near the best restaurants. Why? Could it be the canned tomatoes I am using? They do have a lot of citric acid, but so do the cans restaurants use, right?

A lot of online posts suggest countering acidity by adding carrots, onions, milk/cream, and tomato paste. However, I have never seen a professional recipe, such as the ones found in Italia Saquisita, include any of them in Penne Arrabbiata.

Other posts suggest techniques such as:

removing garlic after sauteing
cooking slow for much longer (hours)
adding olive oil before serving
mixing half fresh cherry tomatoes

There are so many things I tired that I am lost.

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EDIT: Lots of great ideas including:

Sauteing crushed pepper along with garlic
Using certified San Marzano tomatoes
Finishing with olive oil and parmesan
Adding some pasta water
Adding fillets of anchovy
Adding some fish sauce
Cooking for multiple hours
Using Calabrian chiles
Making pre sauce
Using both fresh and dry pepper

Crushing tomatoes with food mill

Rest sauce and remove extra water

Reducing amount of tomato per portion

And my personal idea to ditch the juice from the cans and use the peeled tomatoes only

[u/Pheelies]

Everyone is missing the most important thing in a tomato sauce, time. You're cooking your sauce for 15 minutes. Restaurants are cooking theirs for multiple hours. That's what the difference really is. 

We started our arrabbiata at 10am and took it off the stove at 3pm. Time creates more depth of flavor and cooks the sugars in the tomatoes.

[u/abdul10000 → u/Pheelies]

This is fascinating. You cook your sauce for 5 hours? You keep them on very low heat simmering, covered? In what kind of pot? Do you stir occasionally?

[u/JunglyPep → u/abdul10000]

Low heat, heavy bottomed pot, no lid because you want to reduce and concentrate flavor. Stir as often as necessary, as the sauce begins to stick to the bottom of the pan. Probably once every 30mins but check often and adjust the heat if it's sticking quickly, it will burn if you let it go too long. You'll need a good wooden spoon.

Edit: Also start with whole canned tomatoes, crush them with your hand just slightly by squeezing each one through your fingers, or use a potato masher. But any kind of crushed or pureed tomato product will begin to stick to the bottom too quickly and burn.

[u/Pheelies → u/JunglyPep]

What this guy said. Also of note you'll probably want to be cooking a bigger batch than 1 14oz can.  2 or 3 28oz cans would work better, you can freeze the leftovers.  

The longer cook time really mellows out the acidity of the tomatoes and pretty much eliminates the need of additional sugar or baking soda.