Hello - new girl trying to make pasta sauce

[SusieHomemaker]

Hello, I am a new Thermomixer in need of some help! I recently made the tomato (pasta) sauce in the Thermomix recipe book (page 63) – using the Varoma function.

The sauce is pictured in the book on page 48 and then again on the gnocchi on page 81.

In the book it is deep red in colour and thick – similar in looks to the authentic Italian pasta sauce my friends family make in a big cook up every year. I followed the recipe exactly, but my sauce turned out orangey in colour and all runny.

Do you have any idea of what I could have done wrong to get this result? Has anyone made this sauce before and are the images used in the book real, i.e. from actual recipes made in Thermomix?

I used 1kg ripe tomatoes, ½ onion, fresh garlic and fresh basil leaves. The pasta sauce is one of the main reasons why we bought it so I was so disappointed.

Can anyone help me?

Thanks
Susie

[judydawn]

Hi Susiehomemaker, in my experience I find fresh tomatoes are orangey looking but canned tomatoes give that much richer red colour you are looking for. 

[Jabba]

Hi Susie,

I've made the pasta sauce a couple of times and it has also been orange.  It tasted good though and was thick.  If you want yours to be thicker, just cook it longer to evaporate more steam off.  I also sometimes throw in uncooked pasta for the last 10 min or so of cooking and have an instant meal.

I suspect the colour you end up with is related to the colour of the tomatoes we start with.  In the past I've bought Australian tinned tomatoes and compared to Italian tinned tomatoes - the Australian ones are always orange in colour, while the Italian ones are red.  Maybe try some different fresh tomatoes - e.g. roma?

Tamara.

[cookie1]

Hi Susiehomemaker. My sauce turned out orange too.

[Gralke]

Hello Susie - I don't know that recipe as I don't have the book but normally the orange colour in tomato sauce comes from adding onion to the sauce. If you want a deep red sauce make it without onion - just puree the ripe tomatoes with a little olive oil and cook for maybe 40 mins. I make both versions for different uses. Later maybe you can add powdered onion or garlic if you feel you must. Good luck and merry x-mas.
Regards
Barbara

[faffa_70]

Well there you have it!!! Thanks Barbara. I guess we all think that it needs onions but to make a basic sauce I am guessing even the Italian's don't use them and probably add them to their dishes as they prepare the dishes. The sauce then just becomes another ingredient in the dish. I love this forum I learn so much from it!! 

[judydawn]

Us Aussies tend to put onion into anything to do with tomatoes.  Must give it a whirl myself next time.

[Thermomixer]

I have sort of made the sauce - but I always cook the onions more than suggested with some water.  Not sure if that make a difference.

Might have to get back into the science lab.

BTW - WELCOME   

[SusieHomemaker]

Thank you everyone!! I am very encouraged!

[SusieHomemaker]

Hello - I tried the sauce again without onion and it still turned out orange however I realised the reason why it was so runny was because I left the MC in, when the book said to have it inclined! i did have to be careful of random spitting but having the MC inclined meant more steam could be released and the sauce became lovely and thick (and delicious too)!!!

[cookie1]

You can always put the basket on the top of the bowl  (after removing the MC) and that allows evaporation without spitting everywhere.  Handy when you make jams etc too.

[Jabba]

Thanks Barbara.   

I made the sauce yesterday, included garlic but left out the onion and it was bright red.  Made a great sauce for our pizzas.

[ozrockit]

Mine turned orange but think and tasty, I added some Parisian essence to brown my tomato paste (salt preserved tomatoes) to distinguish between the 2.

[quirkycooking]

I always add more tomato paste than it says in any tomatoey recipes - and also a dash of balsamic vinegar & a tsp of rapadura - makes it nice and rich.  And just chop it for less time and it will be chunky, too. 

[TroubZ]

Hi,
I have the same issue here with orange pasta sauce.
We tried with normal / "gourmet" tomatoes to start with - with no onions and our sauce was bright orange too.
And it wasn't all that spectacular to be honest.

We then tried another batch with "roma" tomatoes.
It too was orage - but ended up being a much nicer / tastier sauce.

Is it strictly a case of the tomatoes in use?
I could add "tinned" tomatoes to the mix as well / instead of fresh ones... but surely that defeats the purpose of having a Thermomix, doesn't it?