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08-26-2020 06:57 PM
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??
08-26-2020 07:01 PM
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
08-26-2020 07:03 PM
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.
08-26-2020 07:05 PM
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.
08-26-2020 07:07 PM
@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.
08-26-2020 07:08 PM
@Somertime thanks, that was my next line of thinking.
08-26-2020 07:09 PM
@kittyloo You can throw a handful of grated Romano in as well!
08-26-2020 07:15 PM
Tarragon is not a herb generally used in marinara sauce. Acid is the opposite of sweet. Wine, vinegar should tone it down.
08-26-2020 07:42 PM
@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.
08-26-2020 08:30 PM - edited 08-28-2020 03:06 PM
@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.
aroc3435
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