My pasta sauce is too sour.

Any advice? Should I simmer the tinned tomatoes for longer or shorter period of time?

what difference is that going to make to its sourness?

What r1 said. That is the easy fix.

Add some baking soda it'll neutralize the acidity.

Did you add tomato paste as well? Lots of onions?

Please do not add sugar. Do what R5 suggested: add some baking soda. That should fix the problem without making the sauce sweet.

Add a carrot for 20-30 min, then remove.... It should taste sour if it works.... That and the baking soda are better than sugar.... If these two tips fail, then go with the sugar.

Add whole carrot sticks to the sauce, and then take them out when you serve. The carrots will absorb the acidity.

No baking soda, try the peeled carrot or add some dairy, like Parmesan. Even a peeled potato is worth a try if you pick it out. You need more than one sponge.

r6 - yes, I had 2 tablespoons of tomato paste and 1/2 a large onion.

My red velvet cake is too sweet. Should I add vinegar?

Add some salt to neutralize the acidity.

Must be a tiny amount of sauce OP/r12.

[quote] My red velvet cake is too sweet. Should I add vinegar?

No, add soy sauce. That should balance it out.

Everyone knows you cook a carrot with pasta sauce. It's nature's sweetener.

Also, since no one has mentioned it...add carrot.

Saute up some red onions (sweet to cut the acid) and Garlic.

Next,

you can add a high quality red wine for richness of flavor.

Butter or Cream too.

[quote]R19 Butter or Cream too.

and carrots

Don't forget the potato, R20!

A carrot troll ? Really ?

Good quality carrots will do the trick.

If you don't have any carrots, you can use beets.

Add butter or olive oil and a splash of apple juice.

Let the apple juice mostly cook off.

I am Italian never had a problem with my Mariana and never heard of the carrot thing before. I am telling you saute up some red onions and garlic in olive oil.

Then, red wine (a good Cab). You can defuse bad flavor with butter and/or cream too (it adds richness).

What happen? Why is your sauce bitter/sour? Did you use bad tomatoes? Burn the garlic? What happened?

R26 I am Italian...I am telling you, saute up some red onions and garlic in olive oil.

And we are telling [italic] you... [/italic] carrot!

I am guessing one of the ingredients was slightly spoiled (?)

R16 that sounds disgusto w/gusto!

r15, I had 1 jar of tomato passata, 2 tins of crushed tomatoes and 2T of tomato paste.

Baking soda or sugar - either one will reduce the acidity.

We were watching The Sopranos and have decided to make baked ziti.

Sugar will increase sweetness, but I don't know how it will reduce acidity.

Just add cream for a blush sauce.

It sounds like you do not like the flavor of the tomato paste. Unless, there is more to this cooking Italian episode.

Saute red onions with garlic in a good olive oil (do not burn it, which may be the culprit).

If still taste bad, you can add a good red wine (a good Cab). Not the whole bottle, just to taste.

Then, butter or cream.

All of these are legit and can be used in a sauce recipe anyways.

Maybe just start over? Cut your loses...

OP are you using your tomato paste correctly?

Op, who did you make this? What ingredients?

You need a herb too, and the best one is oregano.

Maybe after It cooks awhile longer it will mellow out a bit..... Prob the tinned tomatoes had gone off, or were not ripe... Italian stallion @ R34 & 27 has good advice too.... Make sure you carmelize those onions enough to bring out their sweetness though! Try some pepperoncini as well....

My omelette tastes too eggy. Should I add bacon?

Make sure you use San Marzano tomatoes.

Thanks r16! I think the soy sauce will turn the red velvet cake brown. So I may have to use the entire bottle of red food colouring.

Red onion do not have be caramelize to add flavor and slight sweetness, not a necessary step. The goal here is to infuse the olive oil with the red onion and garlic flavor.

Pepperonis cannot be cooked. THEY ARE BITTER.

R44, doesn't he require a sweet flavour though to balance out the sour? Red onions can be quite sharp, no? Don't think he sounds very accomplished as you in the Cucina, as you, Stallion. English people say carmelize to bring about the Maillard reaction..... Not like candied, caramel. If browned a bit, rather than translucent, they shall become sweeter. My mum is a Cordon Bleu Chef.... Though not Italian, I've learned much from her, and make a good sauce....

Also, I mean the red pepper flake.... Not Pepperoni

Carol Lawrence grew up in a traditional Italian family (in working class New Jersey, or somewhere) and her mom was supposedly a fantastic cook. Lawrence put out a cookbook called I REMEMBER PASTA which uses all her family recipes.

I don't really cook Italian food, even though it's my favorite. But if I ever do make spaghetti sauce, I'm going to use her mom's recipe...even though it's kind of elaborate.

Maybe I will finally make it tomorrow....it's high time.

She had a (Christian) cooking show...but still....I suspect this is the real deal, as far as traditional Italian American cooking.

She holds a fork like a peasant.

[quote]R48 She holds a fork like a peasant.

There are a couple of common sense, technical things I'd do differently.

She adds all that pasta to the medium sized pan, and I can't imagine mixing it thoroughly all together in there. I'd drain the pasta, then add it back into the big pot, pour on the stuff from the pan...and more easily mix it from there.

Later she adds the two grated cheeses separately. I would mix the two cheses together on the side...then sprinkle them in once they're combined. It would be more thorough.

The meatball recipe I use is by Nigella Lawson

Didnt Carol Lawrence and Robert Goulet have a threesome with the happy hioker. Or was that Joan and Tony?

R47, R48.... SHE used KRAFT cheeses in the shakers! No!!!! Why bother with the real Prosciutto if you're going down that road, I'll never know! Isn't it meant to be Spaghetti Carbonara? My Sicilian friends would croak.... What era is this? She seems nice enough.... Doesn't look authentico though. Are these the "Cheeses of Nazareth"?

Afterward she puts her feet up and sips a General Foods International Coffee

[quote] R54 She used KRAFT cheeses in the shakers! No!!!! Why bother with the real prosciutto if you're going down that road, I'll never know! Isn't it meant to be Spaghetti Carbonara? My Sicilian friends would croak.... What era is this? She seems nice enough.... Doesn't look authentico though. Are these the "Cheeses of Nazareth"?

I didn't notice the Kraft cheese container!! Maybe it's product placement. But in her book she talks about cooking for a family means using what's at hand. Maybe she thought authentic cheeses weren't something her Bible Belt viewers would have around (?)

But yeah, spaghetti's traditional for this dish. Though using tubular pasta is good because the sauce has more surface to cling to (ie, both sides.) Speaking of which...she doesn't have the guest add all the beaten egg. Then she mistakenly leaves out the dried pepper flakes before serving.

I guess Carol was distracted that day? Perhaps thinking of her ex Robert Goulet's schlong?

[quote] R24 If you don't have any carrots, you can use beets.

Or cole slaw.

If there's carrot in the cole slaw then yes.

In fact, carrot cake works in a pinch, too.

For the uninitiated, where exactly are you supposed to put the carrot?

Have you tried pineapple juice? Rumor has it that pineapple juice has an amazing ability to make other fluids taste last sour.

Raisins. 1/2 cup of dark raisins. Right from Aunt Mary's recipe, you sonofabeecha.

R63, can't you just add a little sugar? The moms of the Italian kids I grew up with did that.

You don't need a lot of sugar just a half a teaspoon, I actually add a full teaspoon to my tomato sauces anyway. I have never tried the baking soda thing.

Have you tired adding some salt? Your canned tomato product probably has as much if not more sugar than a carrot. Especially if you are going to cook the carrot than remove it.

Since you have sugar from the tomatoes already in the sauce, salt will enhance the sweet flavor.

Stop R55, you're killing me! Never saw that particular commercial, but as a young fool, was guilty of enjoying copious quantities of "Cafe Francais"!

I’d add baking soda and some butter.

And Giada has a great marinara recipe. It’s so good I wind up eating it from the pot with a spoon. (It uses carrots, by the way).

R54 here again... At least she didn't add cream..... Many even great British chefs ruin this dish w/the addition. Such a great brekie, sans garlic & Pepper flake. Even better washed down with General Foods' International coffees! Jk

R57, think you are the same responder with the cooking video, and cafe commercial.... You prob are correct about "product placement". KRAFT was under the General Foods umbrella back then, or vice versa.

The recipe I want to make is Sunday Gravy.

I will use Italian sausage and beef meatballs for the meats

Sounds good OP.... Try going for triple meats: pork neckbones too.... So damned good. My friend's Siciliano mum makes it like that... You gotta get the good San Marzanos though, and try a carrot or two... Use a bit more paste too. Report back to us Sun or Mon!

[quote]For the uninitiated, where exactly are you supposed to put the carrot?

You drop the carrot into the sauce while it's cooking, then fish it out before serving. The carrot cuts the acidity.

Sorry, would have answered that carrot placement ? When I had mentioned it, but when I 1st saw the post last night, thought it was a dirty joke!

What did you end up doing, OP?

[quote]What did you end up doing, OP?

Threw it out the window, dug coupons out of the car and went to Olive Garden.

Drink several glasses of chianti before sitting down to dinner OP. You'll never notice the sauce.

Carrot makes no sense. Do the fucking the math. Same amount of sugar as a whole tomato. Yet the tomato stays in the sauce and the carrot is removed,,

Clearly OP fucked up ht recipe.

Start the recipe over or add salt. It's not complicated it's science. .

R81, when removed the carrot tastes awfully bitter and sour.... Proof it's absorbing something.... Kind of similar to old-school cooks trying to salvage over salted pots of food by putting a potato or two in, then removing and discarding. It really does work! Try it! An 80 yr old lady from Palermo taught me the trick.

R81, R82 here again: same lady taught me if that didn't work, then she would add a pinch of bicarbonate.... It would foam up, and release a fishy scent.... I don't know the science behind it, but both do indeed work.

Did Op get food poisoned from his sauce? Where is the update?

To get any transfer of sugar form the carrot to the sauce you need to grate the carrot and leave it in the sauce.

If you thin tossing in a whole carrot will make the difference - back to science. class for you .

OP - try some sugar. The try some salt. if it doesn't work toss it out and use a different recipe. Or follow the recipe you have.

Stir it with a carrot lollipop.

[quote] I'd drain the pasta

OH SHIT

Whatever is the bloody carrot absorbing then, to have taken on such a toxic taste? Maybe metal from the tin? I figured it was absorbing some acid. Carrot becomes truly foul.... I simmer my sauce for hours, could this be the reason? 4-6 hrs usually, perhaps maybe more if guests are running late.

I think the carrot is leaching out its flavor, r88.

That’s why you strain the vegetables out after using them to make stock - they taste awful because all the flavor has gone into the broth.

Isn't that the fundamental problem with using tomatoes as the base for a sauce? Most tomatoes are sour and bland.

OP here!

I decided to make Sunday gravy in the slow cooker all day.

I used 3 bone-in pork neck "steaks" my butcher gave to me for pennies and Italian sausage that I blended myself out of pork mince, fennel, garlic, oregano, parsley, and orange zest. I used a scant touch of black pepper and no chili flakes as my father has a trache in this neck and can't eat hot food.

After I panfried the pork steaks in olive oil in a dutch oven and transferred them to the crock pot, I cooked the sausage, onion and garlic on low heat in the oil for 20 minutes until it became very sticky and golden brown, poured off the fat, added tomato paste and cooked for another 10 minutes. I tossed that in the slow cooker, deglazed the pan with 1/2 cup of Shiraz, cooked the alcohol off and added 1 tin of tomatoes removing the seeds. I only had 1 jar, so I added one jar of Barilla Basilico pasta sauce and 1/2 cup of homemade chicken stock.

I added this to the meats and added 1/2 tsp of brown sugar and 1 whole peeled carrot.

It cooked for 6 hours and smells amazing! I had a quick taste and it is lovely, rich, meaty and not at all greasy. The tomato flavour is strong, too, but not overly sour. I think the bone in the pork adds a lot of flavour. And the carrot tastes awful, so it seemingly soaked up a lot of the acid. I'm pretty happy

I will make beef meatballs (using Nigella Lawson's recipe in Nigella Bites) and serve it with them tomorrow on either polenta or tagliatelle with a salad and some crusty bread and the rest of the Shiraz.

Did you happen to use an aluminum pan for the first batch? The tomatoes can react with aluminum to create a sour, off-taste. Best to use stainless steel or, as you did, something non-reactive like crockery.

If you used orange zest the first time, maybe you zested too deep and got to the white part of the peel? Just a small amount of the white part will ruin a large recipe.

OP you made a mess mixing three different tomato-y stuff. and probably your tomatoes were not ripe. choose well. and start souteeing an italian battuto: diced onions, carrots and celery. that mix gives the olive oil a nice flavour.

Butterfish, OP. Add some butterfish. Mince it. Stir it in.

It will make your pasta sauce memorable.

-You are cooking it far too long, 2 to 3 hours, max. The longer the sauce cooks, the more bitter it becomes.

-A big pinch of sugar is sufficient if you don't wanna' go the carrot route.

-A grated carrot should solve your problems.

-A second to the upthreader who mentioned not using aluminum pots.

-Toss in ONE whole clove, or a SPECK of ground cinnamon, both spices blend well with tomatoes. Nonna's trick.

- I never use tomato paste, my gravy is always smooth, silky and has a well-rounded taste.

-Don't let too much water evaporate as it simmers, keep the contents fairly loose.

-Fry up a chicken back or two, imparts a delicate sweet flavor and the collagen adds to the gravy's smoothness. Another Nonna trick.

-If you add too much baking soda the gravy will develop a metallic taste.

Granma was Abbruzzese, she knew what she was talking about when it came to food. Had she been a caterer, she have made a fortune.

How did I miss this thread?

Don't listen to the naysayers. Add a little bit of sugar to offset the acidity. A sprinkling of nutmeg at the beginning. And a little bit of butter towards the end. R64 must be my nonna typing from the grave, because she added a scant amount of raisins to her Sunday sauce, not to mention her braciole.

Speaking of... excellent, authentic use of pork neckbones. That was what I grew up on for Sunday sauce (or gravy, if that's what you call it): meatballs, Italian sausage, pork neckbones, braciole. Do try braciole (rolled up deliciousness).

People need to get a grip about sugar and its use in savory dishes. It is not going to turn everything into a dessert.

Exactly, R98. Tomatoes themselves have sugar. Get the fuck over it.

Canned tomatoes can be very acidic. What works for me is to drain the juice from the can and replace with an equal amount of chicken broth.

You cooked it for 6 hours??

That’s way too long.

6 hours is how long my mom typically cooks her sauce, R101

Chef recommends adding a tomato aspic to the pot.

I don't know what you mean by "sour." I know bitter, and I know burnt, and I know tart. But Sour? Making sauce is not difficult.

If you want meat sauce take your meats and fry them in olive oil, to brown, then drain the grease off them thoroughly before adding that to the sauce.

You need to buy good quality canned tomatoes. You need to keep it simple with the seasonings. Salt pepper, fresh basil, maybe a bay leaf, and a crushed garlic clove. Now if you over season, add too much oregano ( some people use oregano, I don't) you can get a bitter taste. If you burn your garlic it will ruin the sauce and make it bitter. I start with olive oil and a large can of tomato paste stirring it on medium until the oil and paste are almost blended, then I add a can of water, and keep stirring. I add all my spices and seasonings, and one large can of tomato sauce. (add more depending on how much sauce you want to make.) You can add another half can of water depending on how thick you like it. Stir it and lower the heat to medium low. Some chefs take small chucks of Italian bread, remove all the crust, rip it into shreds adding it to the sauce for a natural thickener. Some people like their sauce spicy so they add crushed red pepper. Let it simmer low and slow for about 45 minute to an hour. If you're making a bi bath cook it an hour and a half. Low & slow. Stir it occasionally don't let it burn. Cover it loosely with the lid slightly ajar.

Glad to hear you went hog-wild and included the neck bones OP! Nxt time, try putting your balls in the sauce, the meatballs that is of course!

[quote]Carrot makes no sense. Do the fucking the math. Same amount of sugar as a whole tomato. Yet the tomato stays in the sauce and the carrot is removed,,

Carrot makes perfect sense, moron. It's not about the sugar. You put it in whole (nobody slices it) at the beginning. As the tomato cooks, the carrot absorbs acidity. When it's ready to serve, you pull the carrot out and throw it away. Works every time!

Grandma never put no carrots in the sauce.

After browning the meats, my grandma put a combo of onion, celery, and carrot, and let it cook down in the meat oils. Then she would add some red wine and reduce it before adding the tomatoes. [html removed] There is no one way to make a Sunday sauce. I went to one household where they added lamb into the sauce, and it was delicious.

I bet some of you nasty people don't even salt your pasta water.

Stop jerking off in it. Duh.

Put the kitchen sink in it...

Grandma never put sugar in the sauce. She said only Sicilians did that.

The gravy people have shown up.

Mince, mince, mince...ewwwww.

[quote]R115 The gravy people have shown up.

I think only Italian Americans call spaghetti sauce that.

Hi! OP here. I called it gravy simply because that is how this recipe is referred to in the recipes I saw online, and in 2 cookbooks, the Sopranos Cookbook and the America's Test Kitchen book.

Typically "gravy" where I am from is made from pan juices (and usually powdered mix) and served with roast chicken or other roast meat, or popularly with fries.

[quote]R117 Typically "gravy" where I am from is made from pan juices (and usually powdered mix) and served with roast chicken or other roast meat,

Yes,

Personally, I'm from a New England family. I can roast and bake things. A sauce might be mint jelly, or sour cream mixed with horseradish. Not too involved. Unsweetened butter goes on about everything, even steak.

I'd leave an Italian meat sauce (or a lasagna or the like) to people who grew up helping (or at least watching) those things be cooked.

Re: R118 I mean [italic] "unsalted butter" [/italic] ...not unsweetened.

I don't think there's such a thing as unsweetened butter...

White wine vinegar and sugar. Easy.

Sicilians and Midwesterners, R114.

You've never lived until you attend a Baptist church spaghetti supper and the red sauce has no onion, no garlic, and two cups of sugar.

First do not uae tomato paste. just cans of whole peeled san marzo roma tomatos. you can either crush them in the blender of just use a wodden spoon to mash them as they cook. San Marzos are way less acidic then other varieties of roma. i always add a cup of grated parmesan as well. if it is too acidic add more cheese.

Just add about a cup of confectioners sugar.

Add 1-2 teaspoons of sugar, and 1teaspoon of lemon juice.

The best red sauce I made was using a 28 oz can of Cento San Marzanos mixed with 5 small cans of Hunt's tomato puree (which is actually watered down tomato paste). It was always too acidic when using just the fresh tomatoes. Even after simmering for several hours it was still too "bright" for my taste.

By any chance, OP, might you have burned the garlic?

I come from an Italian family. I am surprised no one suggested cinnamon. My mom used it, and my relatives who had a successful catering business used it. I have been using it for most of my life. Try two teaspoons of cinnamon and two teaspoons of sugar. I get many compliments on it.