Giada De Laurentiis' Secret Ingredients For Making Delectable Red Sauce
One of the great evangelists for modern Italian cooking is Giada De Laurentiis. For more than 20 years, she has been featured on the Food Network spreading culinary wisdom from the Mediterranean peninsula, and just because she's left the Food Network doesn't mean that's come to an end.
One classic Italian dish that everyone should know how to make well is a classic red sauce. It can be used for pastas or pizza, and frozen ahead of time for a rainy day or large gathering. De Laurentiis continues to share her cooking know-how on her Giadzy website and posted about her favorite recipe for a red sauce there.
In the recipe, De Laurentiis says that the two secret ingredients of her sauce are cherry tomatoes and a leftover Parmigiano Reggiano cheese rind, which add a ton of depth to the sauce. The tomatoes add a remarkable sweetness, while the parmesan rind adds savory umami elements that help make an easy and delicious tomato sauce.
Cherry tomatoes
Tomatoes are obviously a key element to any good red sauce, but cherry tomatoes are actually a rather unconventional choice. While cherry tomatoes are well regarded for their bright, sweet flavor, the tomato of choice is usually the San Marzano. San Marzano's are a type of plum tomato that are well regarded for their deliciously sweet flavor, but De Laurentiis says she prefers cherry.
Many think that cherry tomatoes are a bad choice for sauces because of their poor ratio of flesh to skin. De Laurentiis solves this by working with canned, skinned tomatoes. That means you won't have to skin dozens of tiny tomatoes yourself, or try and pick the skins out of your sauce as it cooks.
With this one simple hack, De Laurentiis is able to bring that remarkably sweet and bright flavor to a tomato sauce that is ready in less than 20 minutes. Don't make the mistake of overcooking this sauce either. Cooking a simple sauce for too long can dramatically change the flavor while this quick cooking period will help preserve much of the tomato's raw flavors.
Parmesan cheese rind
It might seem odd to hold onto the end of a rind of cheese. After all, there are plenty of rinds that you should avoid eating, and the rough texture of parmesan rinds makes them seem unappetizing. However, when added to a soup or sauce, the rinds break down lightly and infuses your recipe with a savory, cheesy character without melting down and changing the texture dramatically. Instead, it simply adds an umami boost to your tomato sauce.
This means that it pays to not only buy the whole wedge of parmesan the next time you need some for a recipe but that you should start stocking up on those cheesy rinds after you are finished. Even if you don't follow along with the rest of De Laurentiis' recipe, you can always keep a few cans of tomatoes and some rinds of cheese on hand to whip up a quick and delicious sauce that will taste like you worked on it for hours.