For a long time, I assumed that Marinara sauce And Tomato sauce There was only one thing – an Italian sauce made with tomatoes. Like soda and pop. It wasn’t until a few years ago, when I waitressed at an Italian restaurant in Los Angeles, that I learned they weren’t the same.
I spent some time this year working with Italian-American chef Scott Cavagnaro (Chef Cava), who runs one. Private dining and events company and knew he would be the perfect person to tell me what made marinara and tomato sauce different. Here’s what I learned.
What is marinara sauce?
“A marinara is a type of sauce that is not cooked for a long time,” explains Chef Cava. Typically, marinara sauce cooks for no more than 45 minutes. It just has to be cooked till the tomato taste is raw. This may take up to 10 minutes.
Marinara is a fairly thin sauce with a vibrant red color, but in Chef Cava’s opinion, it lacks overall depth, especially when compared to tomato sauce. Marinara is on the sweet side, with a bit of tartness, and is often what Americans mean when they say spaghetti sauce. In Italy it is called alla marinara.
Recipes vary from person to person and region to region, but you’ll always find garlic, onion, and basil listed as ingredients in marinara sauce. Since the flavor of tomatoes is so forward, it is best to use high quality. Canned tomatoes When making the marinara sauce
What is tomato sauce?
Tomato sauce is known as sauce tomato in French, and in some Italian-Americans it is called Sunday Gravy. It’s a thick tomato-based sauce with a layered, complex flavor.
This chutney has to be simmered for a long time to develop a rich flavor. Unlike marinara sauce, which is almost always vegan, tomato sauce usually calls for the use of animal fat such as bacon or pancetta. Many traditional tomato sauces also include meat stock for added flavor, e.g Beef stock or Chicken stock.
Herbs such as carrots, celery, or leeks are often used in addition to garlic and onion. They are fried in animal fat before flour is added to make a roux, which, in addition to the long, slow simmering, has that thick, gravy-like consistency of tomato sauce.
When to use marinara sauce vs tomato sauce
In addition to using marinara as a pasta sauce, it is commonly used in pizza and other classics. Meatball subs And The chicken or eggplant There is no better use of marinara sauce for parmesan chef cava than as a dipping sauce Mozzarella sticks i
Because tomato sauce is heavier, with a more pronounced flavor, it’s perfect for hearty pasta dishes such as Spaghetti and meatballs or Chicken cacciatore. “I’ll eat tomato sauce with any kind of pasta,” said Chef Cava.
Overall, it just depends on what you are cooking. Tomato sauce can sometimes overpower simple dishes, while marinara sauce is not heavy enough for such dishes. LasagnaWhich requires thick layers of sauce. However, using marinara sauce makes your dish vegan/vegetarian, which can make it a very useful alternative to tomato sauce if needed.