Tomato Sauce/Glaze

This can be used as a sauce or a glaze, depending on far you choose to reduce it. Leaving it wet and slightly chunky yields a nice quick sauce for most major proteins, pastas, and summer squash. Pureed and strained is excellent for things like broiled salmon, pork chops, or a sauté of corn and peppers. Cook down the pureé for a glaze for things like this dish. Depending on how intense or thick you like it, thin with a little water or pasta cooking water. Cooked down enough you can use it as a syrup for something dessert-y.

INGREDIENTS:

6 medium ripe tomatoes, peeled and seeded (see article on website), chopped into ½-inch pieces or smaller, any liquid strained of seeds and saved

2-3 largish Purplette onions, cut into fine dice

2 medium cloves garlic, peeled and minced

1 pinch sugar, maybe a teaspoon

1 teaspoon fresh marjoram leaves, minced, or ½ teaspoon fresh thyme leaves, minced

1 tablespoon Sherry or white wine vinegar

½ cup dry white wine

Salt and pepper to taste

Olive oil as needed, preferably something buttery or fruity rather than a sharp/peppery Tuscan type

METHOD:

Heat a 10-inch sauteuse or a larger frying pan over medium heat. When pan is hot film generously with oil. When the oil is shivering in the pan, add the onions and toss to coat. Cook gently, stirring frequently, to wilt the completely, around 3-5 minutes. Lower heat to low and continue stirring. Cook so onions become sweetened, but try to avoid adding any color. Add the Sherry vinegar and cook until it is all reduced. Add the garlic into the center of the pan, adding oil if none pools in the center of the pan floor, heat that, and then add the garlic. Stir and cook until it is fragrant and softened a little.

Add the wine and raise heat to medium-low. Stir and cook for 2-3 minutes until it reduces by 50%. Season with salt and pepper, add the herbs, and toss. Add the tomatoes and their accumulated liquid to the pan. Toss well to combine all the ingredients. Cook for a few minutes more. Taste. At this point the sauce should taste bright, and of fresh tomatoes.

You can stop here and use the sauce as is as a slightly chunky fresh tomato sauce for pasta or vegetables, or top grilled chicken or fish, or you can continue on and cook it down a bit more until the tomatoes start to caramelize and the sauce gets a little sticky. At this point, put the contents of the pan into a Vita-Mix, blender, or food processor, and add all liquid. Start on a lower speed or pulse in the food processor. If the ingredients balk at running, add a little water and a touch of oil to get it moving. Pureé until smooth. You can use it now, but for best results, put puree into a fine mesh sieve over a small pan and strain through. Use a rubber spatula to push the ingredients through. You can use the sauce as is, or reduce further into a glaze.

To do this, heat over low heat and simmer until the mixture is reduced and intense in flavor. The glaze should coat the back of a wooden spoon or the spatula without filling in if you run a finger through it.

Whether sauce or glaze, to finish, taste and adjust flavor with wine, sugar, or vinegar. If it is too intense and thick, adjust with water and oil. It is ready to use.

Chef’s Notes: The yield will vary depending on the liquid volume of the tomatoes. Use this to coat or glaze fish like salmon or halibut with a dice of fresh chunks of tomatoes, chicken or quail, or pork chops. This is good to coat things like steamed or roasted florets or Romanesco or cauliflower. Brush on roasted carrots near the end of cooking.

Yield: 1- 3 cups

Source: Chef Andrew E Cohen