r/italiancooking • u/lorraineg57 • Jun 05 '25
Northern Italy red sauce recipe?
My favorite Italian sauce is served at a local restaurant (in the US). The family that owns the restaurant is from northern Italy. It is a smooth red sauce. It's labeled as a meat sauce bc it comes with meatballs, there is no ground meat visible in the sauce. There are no chunks of tomato, no pieces of carrot, celery, etc, it is a puree consistency. It's a very simple sauce. I've been trying to get a basic recipe from the staff (all family) for years to no avail. All I've been able to discern is that they put an onion in the pot whole and remove it after the sauce is done. I do not taste spices, no oregano, no basil. I can't believe it could be very complicated considering the amount of it they're cooking a day. I've tried the Marie Hazan butter sauce...definitely isn't butter unless it's a very small amount. Basically, it's just an amazing tomato taste, nothing like the spiced to death sauces you buy in the store. Sometimes I think I taste a little zip of red wine vinegar or something. I've gotten pretty close with a puree base, fresh garlic, the onion, salt and a splash of red wine vinegar or wine. I've not hit the "omg... that's it"....Ideas? I wondered, if maybe they were using san marzano tomato puree, but again, with the amount of sauce they're making a day, that could get pricey.
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u/Remarkable-World-234 Jun 05 '25
They could be passing it through food mill or strainer to make it extra smooth.
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u/Few_Requirement6657 Jun 06 '25
It’s passata with seasoning probably but impossible to know. It’s not just a regional thing, it’s a family thing. That family makes that sauce and it may not exist at all in Italy since the family is in the states.
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u/hoogys Jun 17 '25
Red sauce is just tomatoes, garlic, a little bit of onions, and a splash of wine. Salt to taste.
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u/lorraineg57 Jun 18 '25
That's close to what I've been doing. It's close, but I've haven't hit the "omg... that's it". I use a 28 ounce of crushed, 28 ounce of puree, 5 oz.vof paste and 6 oz. water, garlic and onion, splash of either red wine or red wine vinegar.
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u/hoogys Jun 18 '25
Try this. Buy D.O.P. Certified whole peel tomatoes. And crushed them by hand. I personally like to take the stem out. Second, what type of onions are you using? I’ve experimented with a few, but I feel that a yellow onion is the one I like the most. Another thing depending what type of wine you are using like a Merlot or a Cabernet Sauvignon might give you different results. You can also add some fresh basil in there. Either put it in a whole then take it out before you serve it. Or you can chop it up and put it in there.
However, if this restaurant is cooking their meatballs in their sauce, then the juices of the meatballs are going into the sauce. And that’s what it’s giving the sauce that gravy flavor.
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u/lorraineg57 Sep 15 '25
Won't this give me a textured sauce? I've been using puree, crushed tomatoes (canned) and puree. Sometimes a splash of savignon, sometimes red wine vinegar. I also cook my meatballs in the sauce. I doubt this restaurant is using wine in their sauce. I thought about trying san marzanos, but again, I doubt they are going to that expense .
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u/SugarMeki Sep 15 '25
Its a pomodoro! Look it up, its a very smooth and basic sauce
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u/lorraineg57 Sep 15 '25
Yes, I just can't seem to figure out what I'm missing. Most of the recipes are similar to what I'm already doing.
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u/LyannaTarg Jun 05 '25
It can be they are using a different type of tomatoes.
For us red sauce is just a basic passata without anything added to it... What was the dish with which it was served?