Has anyone ever put sage in their tomato sauce?

[larry_stewart]

So, I have this friend who has recently gotten into gardening and cooking. He talks as if he knows what he is doing to impress me, but I usually question everything that comes out of his mouth.

Recently he made an Italian marinara sauce. He told me that he put sage in it and it was great. Im not doubting it, I just have never done it myself or come across a recipe that calls for sage when making marinara sauce. So, I'm just curious if anyone else does it, has done it or heard of it, and how did it taste ??

Larry

 

[Andy M.]

Never did it. Never heard of it. Not sure I'd like it. I don't believe there is an official marinara sauce recipe. If he likes it, that's what counts.

 

[di reston]

Salsa alla marinara has, by the way, nothing to do with seafood! It's a great classic basic tomato sauce made with very ripe fresh tomatoes, garlic, salt, a pinch of sugar, black pepper, origano and torn basil leaves, and a top quality olive oil. In all my years of researching Italian recipes, I've never come across a tomato based sauce with sage in, but there's always a first time!!

Di Reston

 

[Kayelle]

So, I have this friend who has recently gotten into gardening and cooking. He talks as if he knows what he is doing to impress me, but I usually question everything that comes out of his mouth.

Recently he made an Italian marinara sauce. He told me that he put sage in it and it was great. Im not doubting it, I just have never done it myself or come across a recipe that calls for sage when making marinara sauce. So, I'm just curious if anyone else does it, has done it or heard of it, and how did it taste ??

Larry

Sounds like you caught him again Larry. Sage doesn't sound right to me either, but maybe you could ask him for a sample?

 

[larry_stewart]

Sounds like you caught him again Larry. Sage doesn't sound right to me either, but maybe you could ask him for a sample?

, yeah, its just strange that some people feel the need to try and impress people by talking about things they don't know about.

That being said, maybe he thoroughly enjoys it, and as Andy said, if he likes it, then its good ( for him).

I was more curious if I was missing out on something that I should know about.

 

[CraigC]

Sage is great in a brown butter sauce to go with butternut squash ravioli! Just not what I'd use in a red tomato based Italian sauce.

 

[Whiskadoodle]

Larry, you asked the same question, albeit a bit differently 2 years ago. I thought I read somewhere Italians use sage in cooking sauces, but I too have never used with a tomato sauce. It's a very old Mediterranean herb so it would be logical it would show up in Italian cooking somewhere.

My old jar of Italian seasoning has Basil, Marjoram, Oregano, Bay Leaves, and Rosemary. Never use it, like to put my own herbs in even though it's pretty much those same herbs, well not always rosemary. I like to include fennel seeds if I have them and savory. I suppose it wouldn't hurt to try it in a tomato sauce, but then, it might be better if your neighbor offered you a taste. I wouldn't like to make a whole pot of sauce and not have it turn out.

Well, let your neighbor expert grow sage. It's pretty hardy and foolproof.

http://www.discusscooking.com/forums/f132/question-about-use-of-sage-in-italian-food-87532.html

 

[Cheryl J]

Sage is great in a brown butter sauce to go with butternut squash ravioli! Just not what I'd use in a red tomato based Italian sauce.

Oh, I love this, Craig. I make it whenever I can find butternut squash ravioli at Costco. It's to die for, especially when some of those little sage pieces get crispy in the brown butter. I sprinkle toasted pine nuts on the finished dish. Now I want some.

 

[Sir_Loin_of_Beef]

If you Google tomato sauce with fresh sage, you will get a whole backahousa (that's Italian for bathroom!) full of recipes, and a lot of them are for Italian food.

 

[GotGarlic]

Sage is great in a brown butter sauce to go with butternut squash ravioli! Just not what I'd use in a red tomato based Italian sauce.

It's good with gnocchi, too.

Sage *is* used in Italian cooking, Whiska, just not in tomato sauce, afaik.

 

[CraigC]

Oh, I love this, Craig. I make it whenever I can find butternut squash ravioli at Costco. It's to die for, especially when some of those little sage pieces get crispy in the brown butter. I sprinkle toasted pine nuts on the finished dish. Now I want some.

Karen makes the ravioli from scratch. She roasted off two the other day and froze it for just that meal. We use the sage from our "herb garden".

 

[GotGarlic]

Karen makes the ravioli from scratch. She roasted off two the other day and froze it for just that meal. We use the sage from our "herb garden".

"herb garden"? Why the quote marks?

 

[bakechef]

I worked with this Italian woman from Brooklyn who put some in her meatballs, which floated in her sauce. I don't think that she put sage directly into the sauce though.

 

[CraigC]

"herb garden"? Why the quote marks?

They are in pots on our front porch. Not like they used to grow at our old house of 22 years, planted in the ground.

 

[larry_stewart]

My sage grew like a weed last year. All I needed was about 10 leaves. Wish there was more I could do with it. I guess I can give the surplus to my buddy to make his sauce.

 

[larry_stewart]

Last Years sage bounty

 

[Dawgluver]

Has anyone ever put Sage In their Tomato Sauce?

I feel your pain, Larry. For some reason, I have to replant my beloved thyme every year due to winter kill, but my sage and oregano grow like crazy and take over everything. Those rascally mint relatives. And I, too, use about 10 sage leaves a year.

Never heard of sage in tomato sauce either.

 

[larry_stewart]

Yeah, only a few sorry looking sprigs of Thyme survived the winter. My rosemary plant was the largest Ive ever had in once season. I wrapped it, insulated it ... just to find a dried out brown brittle bush once unwrapped this spring. My poor Bay leaf didn't survive as well. If I would have known, I would have picked and dried all the leaves.

 

[Dawgluver]

Has anyone ever put Sage In their Tomato Sauce?

Rosemary is indeed a heartbreaker. It's not hardy to my area. I dig mine up, repot it, take it inside and give it bunches of TLC, and it rewards me by shedding its needles all over the floor. So, like thyme, I get a new rosemary every year. Haven't tried growing bay yet, but if it acts like that, I probably won't.

 

[Andy M.]

Rosemary is indeed a heartbreaker. It's not hardy to my area. I dig mine up, repot it, take it inside and give it bunches of TLC, and it rewards me by shedding its needles all over the floor. So, like thyme, I get a new rosemary every year. Haven't tried growing bay yet, but if it acts like that, I probably won't.

We experienced the same thing with rosemary and quit trying. We do, however, have a thyme plant in the garden that's been there for years and keeps producing thyme for the kitchen.