Mark Strausmans Tomato Sauce Recipes

CHEF JOHN'S TOMATO SAUCE

Steps:

• Place olive oil, onion, celery, and a pinch of salt into a large heavy saucepan or Dutch oven over medium-low heat. Cook until onions are very soft, about 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Mix garlic into onion mixture and cook just until fragrant, about 1 more minute.
• Pour tomatoes and their juice into a large mixing bowl and use your hands to crush the tomatoes until they look pureed.
• Mix sugar, 1 teaspoon salt, anchovy paste, white wine vinegar, Italian herbs, and red pepper flakes into vegetable mixture. Raise heat to medium and cook just until liquid has evaporated. Stir in tomato paste and bring to a simmer. Pour in San Marzano tomatoes and parsley. Bring sauce to a simmer, turn heat to low, and simmer for 1 1/2 hours, adding a little water as the sauce cooks down. Stir occasionally.

MARK STRAUSMAN'S TOMATO SAUCE

Steps:

• Puree tomatoes in a food mill, removing most of the seeds. In a medium stockpot, heat olive oil over medium heat, add garlic, and saute until golden brown, 1 to 2 minutes. Add red-pepper flakes. While oil is sizzling, slowly add half of the pureed tomatoes and the wine, stirring to mix. Add remaining tomatoes, reduce heat to low, and let simmer. Add oregano, and continue to simmer until slightly thickened, 1 1/2 to 2 hours, stirring occasionally. Add basil. Season with salt and pepper to taste. The sauce may be kept in the refrigerator up to 3 or 4 days in an airtight plastic container or in the freezer for up to 1 month.

MARK STRAUSMAN'S CHICKEN CUTLET PARMESAN

Steps:

• Using a meat tenderizer or a heavy skillet, pound chicken breasts between two sheets of plastic until flat, about 1/4 inch in thickness. Place milk, flour, eggs, and breadcrumbs in separate shallow baking dishes. Season eggs with a pinch of salt. Dip each breast in the following order: milk, flour (shake off excess), eggs, and breadcrumbs (press down firmly while coating with breadcrumbs). In a large skillet, melt butter with olive oil over medium-high heat until sizzling. Arrange chicken breasts in the pan without crowding, cooking in batches if necessary. Reduce the heat, and cook chicken until golden brown and juices run clear when poked with a sharp fork, 3 to 5 minutes per side. Remove to a baking sheet lined with paper towels; pat off excess oil. Place 1/2 cup of the warm tomato sauce in the bottom of a 9-by-13-by-2-inch baking dish. Add 3 cooked breasts to the baking dish; cover with 1/2 cup of the tomato sauce and half of the sliced mozzarella. Repeat with the remaining chicken breasts and sauce; top with mozzarella. Transfer to broiler, and broil until the cheese is melted and golden brown, about 5 minutes. Remove from the broiler, and serve immediately.

MARK STRAUSMAN'S GRILLED MUSHROOMS

Steps:

• Preheat the grill.
• Mash the anchovy or anchovy paste with the garlic in a mortar. Blend in the lemon juice and olive oil. Season to taste with salt and pepper, and set aside.
• Wipe any soil from the mushrooms with a damp paper towel. Remove stems from the mushrooms, and discard or set aside for another use, like making stock. (It is not necessary to do this with oyster mushrooms.) Brush the caps with the vegetable oil, and sprinkle with salt and pepper.
• Place the caps on the grill, top side down, and grill for a minute or two. Give each cap a quarter turn to set crisscross grill marks, and continue grilling another minute. Turn the caps over, and grill another minute or two, until a knife can easily pierce the cap.
• Remove the mushrooms from the grill, and arrange them on a plate. Beat the dressing to reblend it, and sprinkle it over the warm mushrooms. Scatter the parsley on top, and serve.

MARK'S TRADITIONAL ITALIAN TOMATO SAUCE

Steps:

• Puree tomatoes in a food mill, removing most of the seeds. In a medium stockpot, heat oil over medium heat, add garlic, and saute until golden brown, 1 to 2 minutes. Add red-pepper flakes. While oil is sizzling, slowly add half of the pureed tomatoes and the wine, stirring to mix. Add remaining tomatoes, reduce heat to low, and let simmer. Add oregano, and continue to simmer until slightly thickened, 1 1/2 to 2 hours, stirring occasionally. Add basil. Season with salt and pepper to taste. The sauce may be kept in the refrigerator up to 3 or 4 days in a covered container, or in the freezer for 1 month.

TOMATO-MEAT SAUCE

Steps:

• In a nonstick skillet, brown the meat in its own fat, stirring to break the meat up. Push it to the side of the pan. Add oil, and saute onion until it begins to soften. Add garlic, and cook 30 seconds more. Add the carrots and mushrooms, and cook until the mushrooms begin to give up their juice. Cook until the liquid evaporates.
• Add tomatoes, breaking them up with fingers as they go into the pan, along with tomato paste, basil and oregano. Season with salt and pepper. Cover and simmer over low heat at least 30 minutes, preferably 1 hour. Cool, and refrigerate or freeze.
• To serve, reheat slowly and serve over spaghetti.

TOMATO SAUCE (MATT PRESTON)

Steps:

• Roughly chop onions and tomatoes. Save the seeds and juice to use in the sauce. Put all the tomatoes and onions in a wide-mouthed heavy bottomed saucepan, with all the other ingredients (except the sugar and vinegar). Simmer gently for an hour until the tomatoes are nice and soft.
• Add the sugar and vinegar and cook until it tastes suitably saucy and thickens up. To test this you can always put a dollop on a plate and see how much liquid seeps out of the cooked tomato mush. If it's only a little then the sauce is done. Taste and adjust the seasoning if required.
• Pass through a coarse sieve so that you remove the bigger bits of skin and whole spices. Collect the sauce in a clean, sterilised bowl or jug. To help work the sauce through the sieve roll the round bottom of a ladle over the sauce in the sieve.
• Bottle sterilised bottles and seal.

MARK STRAUSMAN'S TOMATO SAUCE

Steps:

• Puree tomatoes in a food mill, removing most of the seeds. In a medium stockpot, heat olive oil over medium heat, add garlic, and saute until golden brown, 1 to 2 minutes. Add red-pepper flakes. While oil is sizzling, slowly add half of the pureed tomatoes and the wine, stirring to mix. Add remaining tomatoes, reduce heat to low, and let simmer. Add oregano, and continue to simmer until slightly thickened, 1 1/2 to 2 hours, stirring occasionally. Add basil. Season with salt and pepper to taste. The sauce may be kept in the refrigerator up to 3 or 4 days in an airtight plastic container or in the freezer for up to 1 month.

SPICY TOMATO SAUCE

Steps:

• Heat oil over medium-low heat. Add garlic and cook about 30 seconds.
• Add your onion and cook until softened about 3 minutes. Add wine, tomato, and red pepper flakes. Bring to a boil and reduce to a simmer; cook until thickened, about 45 minutes.
• Add basil and parsley and continue cooking 2 minutes more. Season with salt and pepper. Puree mixture using a food mill or a blender.