Pasta sauce too sweet

[legend_018]

I made this typical pasta sauce made with a can of tomatoe puree, can of crushed tomatoes, 4 tablespoons of tomatoe paste, onions, red wine, water and other typical ingredients.

After some sausages were cooked and taking out of the pan, the onion was cut up and carmelized before adding anything else. I also put a tablespoon of sugar in it.

I love it, but my husband says wayyy too sweet. He also claims that you don't want to cut the onion and to just drop it in the sauce whole after everything is put together as it should be in there for flavor only.

Anyways, is carmalizing the onions not a good thing? Or did that ONE tablespoon of sugar make it so sweet?

[McAwesome]

That's odd. There's waaaaaay more tomatoes in that sauce than sugar.

I think it's important to cut the onions so the flavor spreads out much more. And as for the sweet part, try just throwing the chopped onions into the sauce without caramelizing it. And maybe skip out on the sugar.

[buckytom]

i think you added too much paste which can be sweet, as well as the sugar. my guess is you needed to add water because of so much paste.

next time, add more puree or crushed tomatoes, cook them down a bit, skip the sugar but definitely carmelize the onions for their mild sweetness, add the other ingredients (wine, meat, etc.)and only add a little paste at the end to thicken it up.

hth.

[taxlady]

Originally Posted by McAwesome

That's odd. There's waaaaaay more tomatoes in that sauce than sugar.

I think it's important to cut the onions so the flavor spreads out much more. And as for the sweet part, try just throwing the chopped onions into the sauce without caramelizing it. And maybe skip out on the sugar.

Actually, I find that onion that hasn't been fried before it is cooked is usually sweeter.

[legend_018]

The can of puree and the can of crushed were the large 28oz cans as a fyi.

[buckytom]

hmm, that should have been enough. still just a little too much paste, though, imo.

i wonder if the puree was too sweet to start with?

[Andy M.]

I would start by never adding sugar to a tomato sauce. If you want to counteract any acidity, add a couple of tablespoons of paste.

I always start a sauce by sauteing the onions and garlic in olive oil. Then the paste goes in and gets cooked. Only then do I add canned whole tomatoes and break them up with the wood spatula I've been using.

If your sauce is too acidic, add the tiniest pinch of baking soda to neutralize the acidity. IMHO, it's better to eliminate the offensive acidity rather than trying to mask it with sugar.

[jennyema]

I think it was the tablespoon of straight sugar.

[no mayonnaise]

Originally Posted by jennyema

I think it was the tablespoon of straight sugar.

This.

OP: Try grated carrot next time. It has a natural sweetness and plays well with tomato sauce. To my knowledge this is what Italians use to sweeten a tomato sauce instead of sugar.

[buckytom]

a single tbsp of sugar shouldn't have that big of an effect on 70 ozs plus of other ingredients, especially if they are acidic, or on the tart side. that's why i suspect the paste or puree.

i've tried carrots in sauce and didn't like the taste. i know of a few italiian american that have tried that, and it seems to be a personal taste thing, as is with all italian cooking.

[no mayonnaise]

When the sauce reduces down in the cooking process, the sweetness of that tablespoon of sugar is going to be more pronounced, especially with the sugars from the onion, tomato, and tomato paste adding to it. Sugar in a tomato sauce should be added to balance it out when there's too much acidity, which varies depending on the tomatoes. Adding it as a base ingredient to the sauce prior to tasting it is going to be inconsistent.

I'd say nix the tomato paste and sugar from the recipe anyway. Guess we all do it a little differently, huh?

Salt pork, onion, garlic, thyme, beef broth, tomato puree, crushed San Marzano tomatoes, bay leaf, salt. That's all that goes into mine.