Page 466 - YC Cooking School

flavour rapidly and end up disappearing into the sauce when cooked. You don’t want them
to detract from the hero ingredient in this dish: the tomato.

Save time by smashing the garlic
If you want to be a pro chef, crush your garlic cloves with a knife which easily separates the
outer skin from the inner flesh of the clove. Be careful when trying out this technique at
home: the palm of your hand should only make contact with the blunt side of the knife.

Blanch to remove pesky tomato skins
Whether or not you peel your tomatoes is a matter of personal taste. Tomato skins are
tough and can be a challenge to eat, so most chefs remove them before serving. To do this
effectively, you’ll need to use a technique called ‘blanching’. Heat water in a large pot or boil

the kettle. While you wait for the water to boil, use a pointed knife to remove the leafy stem
of the tomatoes and cut a cross into the skin on the opposite side. Then dunk the tomatoes
under the boiling water for about a minute. When the skin starts to loosen around the cut
marks, place them into a bowl of ice cold water to complete the process. The skin will now
be easy to peel off.

It’s a good idea to separate the tomatoes into groups according to their size and blanch
them in batches. To get best results, make sure your stove or hob is on full heat. This is
because every time you plunge new tomatoes into the water, the overall water temperature
drops, which slows down the blanching time.

Use a good quality pot
When you’re making a tomato sauce, first prize is to use a cast iron pot that will distribute
the heat really well. If you can’t get your hands on one of these, use a heavy-based pot.

Let the vegetables work up a sweat
Sweating vegetables means slowly cooking them on a medium heat until they soften and
the onion starts to look transparent (it should take about three minutes). This process is
important because it awakens the favours of the vegetables, making them valuable
contributors to the overall deliciousness of the dish. Remember to add the garlic later, as it
can develop a bitter flavour if cooked for too long which will ruin all your hard work.

Add a little water to prevent sticking
This liquid layer will act as a primer and prevent the tomatoes and vegetables from sticking
to the bottom of the pot and burning.

Create a bundle of flavours
Get nimble with a little piece of string and tie up pieces of celery, basil, parsley, rosemary
and some thyme. This bundle, otherwise known as a bouquet garni, will impart beautiful
flavours to your tomato sauce as it slowly bubbles away. Apart from a little salt, pepper and
a glug of olive oil at the end, this is the only seasoning you’ll need.

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