San Marzano tinned tomatoes shine in simple recipes

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This article was published 29/09/2015 (3709 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Fall has officially started. For many Manitobans, this bittersweet season sees us savouring the last bounty of garden tomatoes while planning for the cold months to come. For me, that means thinking about canned tomatoes.

Many cooking-show chefs and food bloggers now specify San Marzano tomatoes for their recipes, talking them up as the best canned tomato out there. A long, narrow fruit with fewer seeds and less juice than many varieties, San Marzano tomatoes can be grown all over the world. For purists, however, the genuine article is raised near Naples in the rich volcanic soil below Mount Vesuvius.

Like almost all food trends, this one has seen some backlash, with San Marzano skeptics suggesting the slightly pricey tomatoes are overrated, even “insipid.” Cook’s Illustrated, which goes into these kind of taste-test issues with dogged thoroughness, didn’t rate them that highly.

So, are San Marzano tomatoes a genuine miracle ingredient or an overpriced food-snob scam? If you try some in your next sauce, will you feel delighted or duped?

I like them, finding them fleshy but not rubbery, with low acidity and a sweet, bright finish. But it really comes down to what you want to use them for. San Marzanos typically cost twice as much as ordinary-joe canned tomatoes, and you don’t need to throw them at everything in your recipe book.

If you’re making a recipe in which tomatoes play a minor role — a pot of fiery chili or a heavily seasoned, slow-cooking stew — don’t bother with the San Marzanos. Save them for dishes where they really matter, recipes that require only a few ingredients and simple prep.

Just make sure you get what you’re paying for. The real thing should say “Pomodoro S. Marzano dell’Agro Sarnese-Nocerino,” on the label, along with a D.O.P (Denominazione d’Origine Protetta) designation from the European Union and a serial number on the side. Plus, San Marzano tomatoes are always sold as whole, peeled tomatoes — never diced or crushed. (It can be harder to avoid outright counterfeiting. According to the New York Times, Italian police regularly seize mislabelled tomatoes headed for export.)

Try some San Marzanos — the preferred tomato for Neapolitan pizza — in your next pizza sauce. This basic recipe is cooked only a little, so it benefits from the San Marzano’s low acidity.

And test out San Marzanos in a life-changing recipe from Marcella Hazan, which went viral a few years ago. Almost every food blogger has gone into raptures over some adaptation of this tomato butter sauce, for really good reason: it’s absolutely delicious and ridiculously easy.

The original recipe didn’t specify San Marzanos, but I think they really shine here. And even if the sauce uses a can of San Marzanos, it’s still cheaper — and a whole lot better — than prepared spaghetti sauce. It’s now a go-to pantry supper at our house.

I remember when I first tried this recipe. Staring at my pot after I’d plunked in four very basic ingredients, I really didn’t see how it was all going to come together. And somehow it did, with hardly any effort on my part, transforming into a sauce that was mellow and velvety but fresh and beautifully straightforward. Canned tomatoes never tasted so good.

San Marzano Tomato and Butter Sauce

1x 796-ml (28-oz) can whole peeled San Marzano tomatoes
1 white onion, peeled and halved vertically
60 ml (4 tbsp) unsalted butter
5 ml (1 tsp) kosher salt (or 2 ml or 1/2 tsp regular table salt)
Handful fresh basil, torn (optional)
Fresh ground pepper

In large, heavy pot over medium heat, plunk in the can of whole tomatoes with their juices, add onion halves, butter and salt. Bring just to a boil and then reduce heat to low-medium and simmer uncovered, stirring occasionally with a wooden spoon and gently breaking up tomatoes against the side of the pan, for about 40 minutes. Remove and discard onion halves. (Or, if you’re an onion lover, reserve for later use in a soup or stew.) Stir in basil, cook for about 3 minutes to blend the flavours, then season to taste with pepper and more salt, if desired.

Tester’s notes: I really do love this sauce, not just for its ease but for its sunny flavour and gorgeous texture. The butter takes the edge off the tomatoes and mellows everything out. (Some people use more butter: Hazan herself uses 75 ml or 5 tablespoons and some butterfat maniacs use up to 125 ml or 1/2 cup.) The basil is completely optional — I just leave it out if I don’t have any on hand.

To serve, toss with cooked pasta — this recipe will lightly coat about 450 g or 1 lb of pasta — and add some shavings of fresh Parmesan.

— Inspired by Marcella Hazan’s Essentials of Italian Cooking.

San Marzano Pizza Sauce

1 x 796-ml (28-oz) can whole peeled San Marzano tomatoes
30 ml (2 tbsp) olive oil
4 garlic cloves, minced
15 ml (1 tbsp) fresh oregano leaves or 5 ml (1 tsp) dried oregano
Kosher salt and fresh ground black pepper, to taste
Pizza dough, homemade or store-bought, to make a cookie sheet-sized rectangle or 2 x 35 cm (14 in) rounds
225 g (8 oz) mozzarella
Handful fresh basil leaves, torn

Preheat oven to 230 C (450 F). (If using a pizza stone, place in the oven as it starts to heat and let it preheat for about an hour. If using a metal pan, begin preheating while making the sauce.)

Drain tomatoes very well, discarding juice. Remove any tough white stems and hand-crush tomatoes with a potato masher. Set aside. In heavy medium saucepan over low-medium heat, add olive oil and cook garlic for a minute or two, stirring occasionally. (Don’t let it brown.) Add oregano and drained tomatoes. Increase heat to medium and when mixture starts bubbling, cook 6-8 minutes, stirring occasionally to further break up tomatoes. Remove from heat and season to taste.

Place dough on pizza stone dusted with cornmeal or lightly oiled metal pan and spread out thinly. Cover with layer of sauce, some mozzarella slices and a scattering of basil leaves. Bake for 13-17 minutes, but watch carefully, as ovens can vary.

Tester’s notes: San Marzano tomatoes work well in this minimally cooked sauce. Don’t use a processor or blender to mash the tomatoes, because it can break up the seeds and make the sauce bitter. If you want a real weekday cheat, you can use naan bread for the base, about three to four rounds, depending on how thick you like your sauce, and bake for a shorter time, maybe 6-9 minutes.

You can freestyle with the toppings. Add some torn prosciutto or arugula leaves, or if you’re feeling fancy, fresh well-drained mozzarella, available at some Italian groceries.

alison.gillmor@freepress.mb.ca