A 120 year old tomato sauce recipe
with an intriguing ingredient...
Welcome back to my Home Culinary School series: the Escoffier way. If you’re new here, hello I’m Sarah. I joyfully quit my job last Autumn to cook and write full time.
I’ve always wanted to go to culinary school, so instead of waiting for the perfect time, and in a moment of madness, I decided to let Escoffier guide me through his extensive text, Le Guide Culinaire. Ever since the start of the year (which frankly feels like yesterday) I've been intermittently sharing the many highs and lows of my culinary adventures in part-diary, part-recipe format. Catch up here.
Today I'm sharing the very best, most delicious recipe for tomato sauce that includes two intriguing ingredients. As usual, I suggest you pour yourself a glass of wine or stir up a dirty martini, get cozy on the sofa and read on.
Lesson #?!
7.47pm Thursday
Coffee units: 1 (the usual - blue bottle cold brew)
Wine units: 1 & counting (I’m on a rosé kick, see below.)
Negative thoughts: 0
Positive thoughts 10
I'm writing this whilst sipping a glass of rosé. Soon, I will add some ice *gasp*. Yes, ice. I like to add a little ice or a splash of chilled water to open up the fragrant, aromatic flavors of a good rosé, especially when enjoying alongside a variety of summer food pairings, we will get to that soon! This might seem like a travesty to some oenologists and sommeliers. Indeed, a sommelier once passionately informed me that "Champagne should be enjoyed just a little cooler than room temperature!". Whilst I certainly do not doubt his expertise, I’m not sure I agree. Each person’s palate is different and I prefer to maintain a little more control of the balance of sweetness and acidity when drinking rosé.
It’s Memorial Day weekend—the unofficial start of summer—and I’ve just completed a fun dinner party project with Hampton Water, so I’m in the mood to celebrate, especially since they generously sent me some bottles of their refined yet approachable rosé. What a glorious challenge!
You know what pairs perfectly with rosé? Pasta—specifically, pasta with tomato sauce. Escoffier’s tomato sauce, to be precise.
8.11pm
I’m back. I had to refill my glass. I should really drink rosé every time I write this newsletter. Maybe wine is the answer to writer's block? Don’t quote me on that.
Back to the sauce and, reason #1,181,881 why I love Escoffier: he includes pork belly in his tomato sauce! Why didn’t I think of that? The pork adds a wonderful salty complexity.
Quickly, because this is home culinary school after all, let’s briefly explore the origins of tomato sauce.
Most food scholars agree (although some do like to bicker) that the first Sauce Tomate recipe appeared in Lo Scalco alla Moderna, a 1692 cookbook by Antonia Latini of Naples. Popularized through trade and travel, it spread across Italy to the rest of Europe.
In France, chefs like Auguste Escoffier added their particular spin creating different versions. Escoffier’s version, published in Le Guide Culinaire in 1903, became a classic French staple. French Sauce Tomate combines tomatoes, fresh herbs, stock, and pork fat (the best part!)
While fantastic with pasta, Sauce tomate is also perfect on pizzas, cooked vegetables, and as a bread dip (I make a delicious homemade cherry tomato focaccia that pairs very well indeed).
Sauce Tomate is also the base for many other daughter sauces such as: Creole, Spanish, Portuguese, Provençal, Marinara, Vodka sauce, Ketchup and hot sauce.
Right, now that’s done. Let’s cook.
As usual, Escoffier is cooking for many, so his recipe is for 5 liters of sauce so I have divided all quantities by 5 to produce 1 liter (if you need more sauce, double, triple, or quadruple this recipe).
The Recipe - My version
Ingredients
20g butter
30g bacon lardons
30g flour
40g diced carrots
30g diced onions
1 small bay leaf
1 small sprig of thyme
1200g canned tomatoes
400mls white stock (I used my homemade chicken stock)
½ - 1 clove garlic (approx.)
Kosher salt (add a small pinch of salt here and there throughout the cooking process - see here for tips on how to salt)
6g sugar (I used light brown sugar for depth. Round it up to 10g if you’re feeling funky)
Pinch of freshly ground black pepper
Optional addition
A little champagne vinegar added at the very end of the cooking process for vibrancy! Certainly not Escoffier’s suggestion, but trust me, this is a wonderful addition.
Method
Melt the butter in a heavy pan on low then add bacon lardons and fry lightly.
Add the vegetables, bay leaf and thyme and fry to a very light brown color. Remember to add a little pinch of salt here and there as you go. This gradual salting method will add nuance and depth to the sauce.
Sprinkle gradually with flour and mix in. Cook until light brown then add the tomatoes, stock, crushed garlic, salt, sugar and pepper.
Bring to the boil whilst stirring, cover with lid. Escoffier then places the pan in a moderate oven to cook for 1 ½ -2 hours but, I let my sauce cook for approx. 30 mins half covered on the stove. Taste the sauce now. Does it need more salt? More sugar? Adjust according to your preferences.
Pass the sauce through a strainer into a clean pan, then stir and reboil for 5-10 minutes without the lid on. Taste, add pepper and a few drops of optional champagne vinegar.
Pour into a heat proof container and, if not using immediately, coat the surface with butter to prevent the formation of a skin. If this seems excessive, ask yourself: when has adding more butter ever been a bad idea?
Store the sauce in the refrigerator for up to 5 days and freeze for 2-3 months.
To serve
I like to enjoy this sauce simply, with spaghetti (the lovely people at flour + water sent me a pasta package recently and the spaghetti was absolutely delicious). For an easy supper, I boil my pasta in heavily salted water (it should taste like the ocean). Once the spaghetti is al dente, I transfer it to a large saucepan with my tomato sauce. To add some freshness, I toss in a few sweet cherry tomatoes, a splash of pasta water, and a generous sprinkle of high-quality Parmesan. Oh, and if you end up with leftovers like I did, the tomato pasta is surprisingly delicious when served cold, topped with a sprinkle of flaky salt.
Notes & tips
Salted pork belly is a fatty, salt-cured cut typically taken from the pig's belly. Unlike bacon, it is not smoked. If, like me you cannot get hold of pork belly, uncooked pancetta, bacon lardons, or even bacon will do just fine.
Whilst Escoffier offers the option of using tomato puree instead of fresh/canned tomatoes he does, nevertheless, caution that: ‘Care should be taken when using a concentrated purée and an adjustment should be made to the amount needed.’ - yes chef! For this recipe I used Cento San Marzano Organic Peeled Tomatoes
If you’re pescatarian, instead of salt belly pork, why not try anchovies? If you’re vegetarian, add a few drops of soy sauce, Worcestershire sauce, as well as a few extra knobs of butter.
A fun addition might also be a teaspoon or two on 'Nduja for an extra bite.
If you’re vegan, you will be conversant with butter/meat/chicken substitutions but be sure to add extra herbs, according to taste, to create additional depth of flavor.
That's a wrap for this week, friends. As always, thank you for reading. I'd love to hear from you! Where are you from? What's your favorite thing to cook? Let's chat!
Love, Sarah x
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For a treasure trove of delicious recipes head over to agoodtable.com
I’ll add a large ice cube to a glass of wine, swirl for 10 seconds or so and remove it. It chills the wine without diluting it. Another idea I like is the Provençal way of adding frozen wine cubes to the glass, keeping the wine cold, and topping it up as they melt. Don’t even have to get up for a top up! 🥂
Thank you so much, looking forward to serving sauce, first time sticking to pasta,
Will need to buy a conversion table though,
Are we able to print your recipes and how!
Many blessings to you!