quote:

Originally posted by BreezyGardener:
Ugh - Cinnamon. Definitely an "acquired" taste in pasta sauce, & one that I'll NEVER acquire - lol!!

In fact, we had an absolutely fabulous little Italian restaurant near us back in NY, & all of sudden they started added cinnamon to their pasta sauces. Absolutely turned my stomach. Luckily they didn't add it to their pizza sauce, but from then on I was unable to ever order pasta there. I found the sauce inedible due to the cinnamon.

Definitely do a taste test of pasta sauce with cinnamon before you freeze or can up a lot of it.

I agree with you, BG! Even though I love SE Asian and Chinese food, and love spicy foods, I have never developed a taste for Indian food, as I can not take the sweet spices - cinnamon, cloves, cardamom - overpowering savory dishes. I can not even imagine it in an Italian tomato sauce!

That said, Mexican sauces sometimes have true cinnamon in them, but in sauces such as those, and in many Malaysian and Indonesian foods, the extreme power of all of the other flavorings makes it a good part of the overall flavor. I can't imagine this in a simple tomato sauce.

I just had probably my last raw tomato pasta dish for the season (unless I get an incredible heat spell!) - the first and last thing I do with 1 1/2 lbs tomatoes every season. It is simply 1 1/2 lbs diced (about 3/8") tomatoes, 4 cloves garlic, minced, a generous handful of fresh basil (also the end of that outside), chopped, and 4-6 tb extra virgin olive oil. Mix all of this together in a large bowl (large enough for the pasta later), and let it sit while cooking the pasta. I usually use a type of pasta that will trap the pieces, such as spirals, small shells, etc. When the pasta is drained, dump onto the tomatoes, and mix well. Simple and delicious! Through the summer I vary it by adding some chopped olives and achovies, along with some capers, or some olive paste, or some tuna in olive oil - just about anything I have added is good! Though I have never added cinnamon! lol

Dave

quote:

Ugh - Cinnamon. Definitely an "acquired" taste in pasta sauce, & one that I'll NEVER acquire - lol!!

Make sure you never order Cincinnati Chili then – but that's OK. More for ME!

I make a simple sauce, with or without meat with this basic recipe, adding more oregano for a stronger sauce or more basil for a sweeter taste. If I want a more Greek flavor, I add some bottled Greek seasoning along with the oregano and basil.

Tomatoes, garlic, chopped onion, oregano, basil, a smidgeon of thyme, chopped bell pepper, garlic, sea salt and fresh ground pepper.
I don't measure so I just cover the surface of the pan with oregano, then basil, about half that amount of thyme, then taste and go from there.
I start it with onions and peppers in olive oil, then add tomatoes and garlic, let it condense down, add the spices, then add garlic just as it finishes.
If you have freezer room, you can freeze whole ripe tomatoes for sauces like this and have (almost) ripe tomato flavor.
I use cinnamon in chili and some of the rustica type sauces with Italian sausages, but not in a more delicate (except for the garlic) sauces.

quote:

Originally posted by Matt-choo:

quote:

Ugh - Cinnamon. Definitely an "acquired" taste in pasta sauce, & one that I'll NEVER acquire - lol!!

Make sure you never order Cincinnati Chili then – but that's OK. More for ME!

I was always intrigued by Cincinnati Chili until I came across the cinnamon. No worries - more for you - lol!!

Don't get me wrong, I don't think it's a bad thing if you like it. Like everything else having to do with cooking, it's all personal preference. There really is no right or wrong.

I enjoy & cook a LOT of Indian food - many of their dishes don't use the sweet spices. What I rarely cook is Moroccan & African dishes, because so very many of their foods do use them. Oh well - a couple of cuisines out of a gazillion isn't too bad - lol!!

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Originally posted by Suasoria:
Personally I think it's a sin to use garden-fresh ripe tomatoes in a slow-cooking sauce. Canned tomatoes, fine.

I am still puzzling over this "sin" thing. Given that I like slow-cooked tomato sauce, and given that I planted enough tomatoes to make slow-cooked sauce from fresh, yummy tomatoes enough to last through the winter... what could be the harm in using them that way?

Of course I also like the "fresh tomato on pasta" version and fix that as well, while tomatoes are fresh. But that's only 6-8 weeks tops! I also like fresh-tasting sauce (sans chemical preservatives) in the winter.

Use any of your favorite meatless tomato sauce recipes and add tofu.

The trick is to slice the tofu thinly, place on a sheet in the freezer and let it freeze solid for a day or so. Remove it from the freezer and as it thaws, crumble it into your sauce. It acquires the texture of ground beef and adds protein to the meal.

Wayne

To those who dislike cinnamon in tomato sauce: not just African, but many middle-eastern sauces have cinnamon in it.

Moussaka, a Greek dish, is made with a lot of cinnamon and it still tastes great. Recipe here:
http://greekfood.about.com/od/...shes/ss/moussaka.htm

The right amount of cinnamon imparts a subtle, fantastic flavor to all red meat sauces, and it truly enhances all the other flavors.
The secret is: do not overdo it---you're not making pumpkin pie.

After your sauce is made, you might want to add Bulghar wheat to your spaghetti. I cooked this once for my daughter and son-in-law and they thought that the sauce had meat in it. The wheat puffs up like and looks like ground beef. Beware-it's easy to overdue the Bulghar wheat so that the taste of the wheat overwhelms the other flavors.