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Respected Contributor
Posts: 2,430
Registered: ‎03-11-2010

hello, sooooo, i had a glut of garden tomatoes and decided to make sauce. spaghetti/marinara.  

i only used the tomatoes, fresh oregano, and tarragon, and flat parsley, and garlic.  cooked for about a hour. let it sit over night, and it tastes like i put a BIG spoonful of sugar in it. also had to run it through the ricer to get rid of all the SEEDS!.

i think the sweetness is coming from the tarragon. anyone have a idea how to tone down the sweetness??

 

Honored Contributor
Posts: 16,578
Registered: ‎03-11-2010

Re: help with my marinara sauce

tomatoes have a lot of sugar

 

I read once you can use baking soda to counteract that but need to meter it out very judiciously otherwise it goes to other way

Esteemed Contributor
Posts: 6,407
Registered: ‎07-07-2010

Re: help with my marinara sauce

I have never made marinara with fresh tomatoes and I see that you did not add sugar.  So, I would add some salt to taste so that the sweetness is balanced.  I have also heard adding butter helps, but I would do that after tasting with the salt.  I have never used tarragon in a tomato sauce, but that could add sweetness.  What I have read is when using fresh tomatoes, first make a concasse by putting the tomatoes in boiling water for about 30 seconds, make an X in the skin, remove the skin and seeds.  A little late now, but next time.

 

Other than this, I really am not a help.

The next time that I hear salt and ice together, it better be in a margarita!
Respected Contributor
Posts: 2,206
Registered: ‎09-18-2010

Re: help with my marinara sauce

Add a good red wine, a full glass............simmer for another hour, taste.  If it is a large pot of sauce, I have used 1/2 bottle.  Wine cooks off but should reduce the sugar taste.

Respected Contributor
Posts: 2,430
Registered: ‎03-11-2010

Re: help with my marinara sauce


@SXMGirl wrote:

I have never made marinara with fresh tomatoes and I see that you did not add sugar.  So, I would add some salt to taste so that the sweetness is balanced.  I have also heard adding butter helps, but I would do that after tasting with the salt.  I have never used tarragon in a tomato sauce, but that could add sweetness.  What I have read is when using fresh tomatoes, first make a concasse by putting the tomatoes in boiling water for about 30 seconds, make an X in the skin, remove the skin and seeds.  A little late now, but next time.

 

Other than this, I really am not a help.


i'm not sure what a concasse is, but i did blanch them, in boiling water and remove the skins.

Respected Contributor
Posts: 2,430
Registered: ‎03-11-2010

Re: help with my marinara sauce

@Somertime  thanks, that was my next line of thinking. 

Respected Contributor
Posts: 2,206
Registered: ‎09-18-2010

Re: help with my marinara sauce

@kittyloo   You can throw a handful of grated Romano in as well!

Super Contributor
Posts: 333
Registered: ‎10-09-2017

Re: help with my marinara sauce

Tarragon is not a herb generally used in marinara sauce. Acid is the opposite of sweet. Wine, vinegar should tone it down.

Regular Contributor
Posts: 209
Registered: ‎08-08-2017

Re: help with my marinara sauce


@kittyloo wrote:

hello, sooooo, i had a glut of garden tomatoes and decided to make sauce. spaghetti/marinara.  

i only used the tomatoes, fresh oregano, and tarragon, and flat parsley, and garlic.  cooked for about a hour. let it sit over night, and it tastes like i put a BIG spoonful of sugar in it. also had to run it through the ricer to get rid of all the SEEDS!.

i think the sweetness is coming from the tarragon. anyone have a idea how to tone down the sweetness??

 


Too much tarragon would taste like soap. 

Respected Contributor
Posts: 3,113
Registered: ‎09-30-2010

Re: help with my marinara sauce

[ Edited ]

@kittyloo   If I still had fresh whole tomatoes, I would cut some up and put in my Vitamix and gradually rev up to top speed to completely pulverize the seeds and skin, then add them that to the sauce already made, simmer on the stove top with the lid off for at least another hour, and taste.  

 

If you double the amount of tomatoes, that should counterbalance the excessive sugar taste.  Adding some wine and simmering down should also help.

 

And I wouldn't use tarragon in a tomato sauce.  Oregano, basil, rosemary and garlic are what I typically use.  And for a too acidic sauce I add some grated raw carrot, or a little white zinfandel, or some other drinkable table wine, or a pinch of sugar.

 

Hope this helps.  And, as you know, you can freeze sauce if you wind up having to double the sauce to straighten out the excessive sweetness to salvage your hard work.

 

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