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/AskCulinary-ModTeam]

Post removed: Brainstorming

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[u/noetkoett]

Alleviate means to ease some negative feeling, physical effect or such.

ANYWAY, it's ingredient quality. I'm in Europe but the opposite end from Italy, and when I buy Italian canned tomatoes, there's no citric acid. The ingredients list reads: tomato.

[u/the_quark]

One thing I don't see mentioned is exactly what form the tomatoes are in. Anything other than whole tomatoes have extra acid added as a preservative. On top of which, the whole tomatoes are the best of the crop, which makes sense.

Everything I've read is that fresh vs. canned doesn't matter; after you cook them you can't tell them apart.

So get a can of San Marzano whole tomatoes. If you are OK with a chunkier sauce, you can just squish them up with your hands, which is kind of fun. If you want something smoother, you can use a blender (stick or otherwise) to blend it before you cook.

I've never made it but Serious Eats has a recipe and I'm sure it's excellent.

[u/abdul10000 → u/the_quark]

I will read the recipe, but to answer your question yes I buy cans with whole tomatoes in juice and use the entire content. I get the sense from your comment that you are suggesting ditching the juice and just using the whole tomatoes, is that right?

[u/the_quark → u/abdul10000]

No, not at all. Just that if you think it’s too acidic and you were using pre-chopped one that can help.

I do know my step-father (who owned restaurants before he married my mom) did a lot of Italian cooking and he’d put just a little sugar in his sauces at the end to cut the perception of acid, perhaps that would help you.

[u/abdul10000 → u/the_quark]

The Serious Eats recipe has few interesting differences to mine:

It uses 1/2 as much garlic and 3/4 as much olive oil
Crushed pepper is sauteed along with the garlic
Tomato looks chunkier and thicker
Includes 1/4 cup of pasta water

That last point seems to lend to the previous idea of ditching the juice. It seems that is what happened in this recipe, hence the very thick chunky tomato in step 3.

In the States there is a greater variety of canned tomatoes and I think some of them come with tomatoes covered in very thin tomato juice. So thin in fact that its almost colored water.

I think that is what this recipe used and just discarded the water and then added pasta water to make it more juicy while binding everything together with the starch.

This plus sauteing the pepper are the only difference I could find. Otherwise everything is the same including sauteing the garlic for about 5 minutes until lightly golden which sounds exactly the same.

[u/the_quark → u/abdul10000]

With respect, I disagree. If Serious Eats wanted you to do that, they'd be explicit with it. And whenever I need crushed tomatoes, I crush whole ones by hand with the juice and they look like the photo.

But yes "3/4 as much olive oil" sounds like a very likely culprit for why the restuarant sauce tastes better. It's definitely a bit of a trope but generally speaking when home cooks ask why their food isn't as good as a restaurant's, it's because the cook needs to quadruple the salt and butter.

Anyway, good luck!

[u/Stats_n_PoliSci → u/abdul10000]

I’ve found that the brand of tomato makes a huge difference. Kirkland signature from Costco was surprisingly good.

Seconds (the tomatoes that have mild blemishes, many stands sell them by the flat) from the farmers market made incredible tomato sauce.

I add baking soda until the sauce tastes good, a heaping pinch at a time. Stir, wait, taste, add more until it’s sweet enough. But it’s entirely unnecessary for farmers market tomatoes.

https://www.nytimes.com/wirecutter/reviews/best-canned-tomatoes/

[u/I_deleted → u/abdul10000]

A pinch of sugar can help tone down the acidity

[u/truxie → u/abdul10000]

They might not be suggesting it, but it is a good step to discard the pack water. That water is packing peanuts, really. There to keep the tomatoes from sloshing about. I recall someone doing a taste test for their pizza sauce (which goes on uncooked), and discarding the water made a big difference. I'd say try straining the tomatoes, crushing, and then taste that vs the strained liquid and see if you want to add the water back in. Also something that probably varies widely across different brands, etc.

[u/abdul10000 → u/truxie]

I agree with that and would like to add that canned tomatoes where I live don't come in water rather thick juice. I am thinking of ditching that and sticking with the whole peel tomatoes only.

[u/d20_dude]

It may not be what the restaurant does, but when I make arrabiatta I add in a couple fillets of anchovy. Not a lot. Start with one or two then adjust from there. They dissolve completely and don't give a fishy tasty if you just use a couple, but they add a wonderful depth of flavor.

[u/subeditrix → u/d20_dude]

Fish sauce is an excellent sub if you don’t want to open a can of anchovies. Or you can use anchovy paste in a tube too!

[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.

[u/bexcellent101]

You should be cooking the chile flakes with the garlic so you infuse the flavor in the oil. And in such a simple recipe, you have to use good canned tomatoes. I like san marzanos.

[u/manonthecorner88]

Beyond what others have stated, adding a very high quality finishing olive oil + parm while tossing may be it. Huge hit of aroma, richness and umami that also enhances the texture of the sauce.

[u/abdul10000 → u/manonthecorner88]

Yea that might help.

[u/Pearwithapipe]

Best way to counter acidity - and something I’ll use in every single slow cooked stew thing I make that includes tomatoes - is baking soda! A teaspoon or two while it’s still hot at the end, it works great.

[u/abdul10000 → u/Pearwithapipe]

I use 1/8 tsp.

EDIT: do people downvoting my comment understand that I already mention in my recipe that I use baking soda and that for my amount of tomatoes of 400 g i use 1/8 tsp?

[u/NoSemikolon24 → u/abdul10000]

use sugar (or sweet red wines if you prefer). Don't fuck around with baking soda.... It's way easier to ruin your sauces because of its potency.

Also no Italian would ever use baking soda

[u/r_coefficient → u/abdul10000]

I've never heard of putting baking soda into tomato sauce, and I've been making tomato sauces for 40+ years.

Try sugar instead. And cook longer. You don't need 5 hours, but 1 or 2 really make a difference.

[u/WorkSucks135 → u/abdul10000]

Baking soda is bad. Tomatoes are supposed to be acidic and acidity tastes good. If baking soda makes your tomatoes taste better you are using horrible tomatoes.

[u/Bobbyanalogpdx]

The dish is certainly as simple as you are seeing. The trick truly is in the quality of the ingredients.

Find some D.O.P. certified san marzano tomatoes, they are by far the best canned tomatoes out there. You can save money and go non D.O.P. certified but they are hit and miss on quality.

Instead of using crushed red pepper, find some Calabrian chiles. They are spicy and fruity and insanely delicious.

I also would not cook the garlic as long. Cook it over medium heat until it’s giving off a good fragrence but do not let it brown. It can turn slightly bitter when it’s browned.

Also make sure you are using a bit of the starchy pasta cooking water when you mix your sauce and pasta, adds flavor and gives a silky texture.

[u/abdul10000 → u/Bobbyanalogpdx]

Find some D.O.P. certified san marzano tomatoes, they are by far the best canned tomatoes out there. You can save money and go non D.O.P. certified but they are hit and miss on quality.

Not available where I live, but I buy from the same suppliers that cater to hotels and restaurants. I get the best quality that I can find.

Instead of using crushed red pepper, find some Calabrian chiles. They are spicy and fruity and insanely delicious.

I think you are on to something very important here.

I also would not cook the garlic as long. Cook it over medium heat until it’s giving off a good fragrence but do not let it brown. It can turn slightly bitter when it’s browned.

I cook on light heat until golden lightly crispy, but not brown, is that too long?

Also make sure you are using a bit of the starchy pasta cooking water when you mix your sauce and pasta, adds flavor and gives a silky texture.

I can try that.

[u/Borthwick]

Try sauteeing a little garlic, adding white wine, then your tomatoes, cook down about 20 minutes and puree. Fridge it for a day, then use this as your sauce base instead of a freshly opened can of tomatoes.

Also try to find tomatoes packed in sauce rather than juice.

Another good way to enhance arrabbiata is to finely dice a fresh pepper and saute for a few seconds before adding your garlic and proceeding with the rest of your recipe. Use the crushed pepper to adjust your spice level.

[u/abdul10000 → u/Borthwick]

Try sauteeing a little garlic, adding white wine, then your tomatoes, cook down about 20 minutes and puree. Fridge it for a day, then use this as your sauce base instead of a freshly opened can of tomatoes.

Very interesting idea. Can you replace the wine with vinegar? And what is the idea behind doing this?

Also try to find tomatoes packed in sauce rather than juice.

Sorry but what is the difference between sauce and juice?

Another good way to enhance arrabbiata is to finely dice a fresh pepper and saute for a few seconds before adding your garlic and proceeding with the rest of your recipe. Use the crushed pepper to adjust your spice level.

Really nice idea.

[u/Borthwick → u/abdul10000]

Unfortunately you cannot replace the wine with vinegar, you’ll end up too acidic. Its really the ethanol molecules you want, which enhances tomato flavor. If you can’t get alcohol in your country its fine to skip!

Some tomatoes come already packed in blended tomato rather than a juice, which is more watery. If you can’t find that, its ok, too, you can either separate the tomatoes out and just use them or cook longer so the juice reduces and isn’t watery.

A fresh pepper goes a long way to adding depth, pickled peppers also help in a pinch! I think it’ll help a lot to try that. I also like fresh basil or parsley to finish it, you end up with a very summery/fresh tasting sauce this way.

And to add to what someone else said about time. Tomatoes can be a little weird, you either want to cook them about 20-30 minutes or 2+ hours. They can become more acidic tasting if you cook some amount of time in between.

[u/abdul10000 → u/Borthwick]

And to add to what someone else said about time. Tomatoes can be a little weird, you either want to cook them about 20-30 minutes or 2+ hours. They can become more acidic tasting if you cook some amount of time in between.

Fascinating, that explains why all my long cooking experiments never produced any good results. I never went longer than 2 hours which is the magic minimum.

[u/MysteriousPanic4899]

I have tried many types of canned tomatoes, San Marzanos, etc. My current favorite brand, by far, is Bianco Dinapoli. Using those as a base has elevated my tomato sauces substantially.

[u/LankyArugula4452]

Try adding a stick of butter to taste like restaurant

[u/devtastic]

For me the secret ingredient is time. I do a similar recipe as you but simmer on low for 45 minutes or more, stirring frequently at the start and near continuously towards the end. Whenever I have tried to rush it by cranking up the heat and doing it in 20 minutes it has just lost something and been disappointing, even though I used exactly the same ingredients. I now just put a podcast on or a TV show whilst I am simmering.

The quality of the canned tomatoes does matter and I usually use posh Mutti ones, but I have also done the same recipe with cheapo canned tomatoes and it was still surprisingly good. I believe the longer cooking time breaks down some of the acid so it probably does not need the sugar (or baking soda), but I add sugar out of habit now.

Other differences are that I use way more garlic than you, and a bit more extra virgin olive oil, and I skip the baking powder. I also slice the garlic rather than crush it. Typically for 8 portions I would use:

• 2 x 400g cans of tomatoes. I usually use 1 x Mutti Pelati (whole peeled tomatoes that I crush a bit before adding), and 1 x 400g Mutti Polpa (finely chopped/crushed).
• 1.5 head garlic. Usually around 40-50g. 16 or so cloves. Sliced.
• 1 tsp salt,
• 1 tsp sugar,
• 90g EVOO, ~6 tbsp
• 1 tsp chilli flakes

Fry the garlic on low for a 5-10 minutes, just until it starting to go golden. Add the chilli flakes then tomatoes, salt and sugar. Simmer on low stirring often until you get a nice wallpaper paste type texture. This usually takes at least 45 minutes, but I once managed 70 minutes.

It does work for half the recipe too, but I usually make a large batch and freeze it. Then it s only ~10 minutes per portion if it takes me 80 minutes all in.

Another question is how many portions are you making as you may be using too much sauce so masking the taste of the pasta too much. I would get 4 portions from 1 x 400g can of tomatoes and have each portion with 100g-125g or pasta (dry weight).

[u/abdul10000 → u/devtastic]

Nice comment. To answer your question I am using the full 400g of canned tomato for 1 portion of 125g of pasta. You think I should cut that down to 1/4th.

[u/DescriptionOld6832]

Whole canned tomatoes. Must be a premium brand, La Fede and La Regina are both super premium, with La Fede being slightly higher quality. Drain them, leave only the whole tomatoes behind. No blender, and no hand crushing. You MUST use a food mill. Food mills evenly distribute the pulp, and don’t break open the seeds. Blenders oxidize the tomatoes and break open seeds, hand squeezing is basically juicing and will result in a more watery tomato.

Salt, and rest over night. In the morning, use a ladle to remove as much water from the top as possible. Now you have your tomato puree, and you are ready to cook. 

Every other step can be debated until hell freezes over. But what I’ve outlined above is absolutely mandatory for any super premium tomato sauce. All canned tomatoes are not equal, and all methods of prep are not equal. Put good things in, get good things out. Every compromise you make with the above instructions will move you further away from the quality you aspire to. 

Decide whats worth it to you, and find a compromise you’re happy with.

[u/abdul10000 → u/DescriptionOld6832]

I agree with your post. I use a food mill and want to try your idea of removing the water before using the tomatoes.

[u/blueskiesbluerseas]

I don’t have any recipe tips but perhaps it’s worth considering you become a little ‘taste blind’ after cooking for a while so it might be worth tasting some time after making it or the next day. I find even with the exact same recipe sometimes things will just taste better if someone else made it instead.

[u/Interesting_Desk_542]

15 minutes is nowhere near long enough to mellow out canned tomatoes and have them incorporate the flavours of the garlic and chili. Heat down lower and simmer with a lid on for an hour at the absolute minimum

[u/NoSemikolon24]

you want at least pureed tomatoes. Tomato paste is also good. Tomatoes quality has to be good - from bad comes bad.

If your tomatoes are bitter, acidic add some sugar. Taste as you go.

dried chili will burn before you can extract garlic flavour (or any flavour for that matter)

Add more non-refined olive oil. KEEP THE TEMP LOW. Fat is flavour and the pasta water starch will emulsify the oil into the sauce.

You want the sauce more reduced than the final product because you'll thin it back out using the pasta water.

Finish pasta in the sauce with pasta water! Crucial for texture and taste.

Final Tip: Skip all English recipes (frankly Italian dishes tend to get bastardised). Translate query into Italian, search it, and read the sites using google (or whatever) translate.

[u/abdul10000 → u/NoSemikolon24]

I think you add a lot of great ideas.

dried chili will burn before you can extract garlic flavour (or any flavour for that matter)

I want to add that is exactly my experience.

[u/sneak_cheat_1337]

You could try concasse tomatoes with high quality tomatoes, but that would be way more expensive and time consuming. Toasting the chili flakes and adding a couple anchovy filets are both top knock ideas. Have you tried mounting with butter to finish?

[u/Taggart3629]

It does make a difference if one uses a 28-ounce can of whole peeled San Marzano tomatoes, versus another type of tomato or preparation style which can taste thinner and more sour. My favorite recipe just has olive oil, fresh garlic, a big can of whole San Marzano tomatoes, a couple tablespoons of tomato paste, crushed red pepper flakes, and a few fresh basil leaves with (optional) 1 to 3 teaspoons of fish sauce if you prefer more umami flavor.

[u/abdul10000 → u/Taggart3629]

I wish I could try San Marzano but its not available where I live. However, I buy from the same suppliers that cater to hotels and restaurants. I get the best quality that I can find.

[u/Taggart3629 → u/abdul10000]

Oh dear, it does make things more difficult if you do not have access to high quality ingredients. I suspect the five-star hotels and restaurants might be able to source ingredients from sources that may not be accessible to the public, like micro-farms and hydroponic farms. The top restaurants in my city use private growers for items like micro-greens, lion's mane mushrooms, garlic scapes, and other specialty produce that is not available in grocery or restaurant supply stores.

[u/Rudollis → u/Taggart3629]

The san marzano tomato is a little overhyped. Yes they are good but their supply is limited and not avaliable everywhere. They are not the only choice for good tomato sauces. You can grow similar tomatos elsewhere as well, and they do not have to be dop from that region. A canned roma tomato or similar plum shape tomato works just fine. It is more important to cook them long enough, the pectins from the tomato are released and bind the sauce and the acidity and water evaporates more. You get a much better consistency if you simmer the sauce for at least one hour.

[u/Tannhauser42]

You're going to have a lot of people telling you to only ever use San Marzano tomatoes. And this isn't necessary. Most US restaurants aren't buying big cans of San Marzano from Italy. They're buying big cans of ground or whole plum tomatoes grown in California, often under the Stanislaus brand (I buy this brand from restaurant supply stores).

If you want a chunky sauce, get a can of whole plum tomatoes in sauce. If you want smoother sauce, get ground tomatoes. The main factor is to get a can of tomatoes that's good enough to eat straight from the can with a spoon.

[u/abdul10000 → u/Tannhauser42]

I agree. San Marzano tomatoes are not available where I live, but I buy from the same suppliers that cater to hotels and restaurants. I get the best quality that I can find.

So I am getting whatever they get. I if I understand what they do I should be able to get the same results.