Cento Tomato Italian 35 Oz

Make plenty of the sauce at one time

I do not exaggerate when I say that I have spent about 35 years perfecting my Italian tomato sauce. As I have stated before, I have many different tomato-based sauces that I use with different kinds of Italian food (e.g., see my Ragu finto or pizza sauce recipes), but this is my favorite. It is fabulous with lasagna and other cheese and noodle dishes that require a rich and zesty tomato sauce. I always make this sauce with Italian sausage (try my fresh Italian sausage). Sometimes I will use meatballs instead. But the sausage gives a wonderful flavor to the sauce and vice versa. I also make a lot of sauce at one time, because it has to cook for 4 hours. Later, I will show you how you can bottle the sauce to preserve it.

Ingredients (it is enough to make two large pans of lasagna – or 10 to 12 servings of spaghetti):

• 3 – 28 oz cans of plum tomatoes (whole) – use San Marzano if you can find them. If not, Hunts will do. (I will write an article on San Marzano plum tomatoes later and try to point you toward the real thing.)
• Water as directed
• 1 pinch of baking soda
• 1 teaspoon black pepper
• 2 teaspoons sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon dry oregano (or equivalent fresh). Although fresh is generally best, it does not have much impact on the taste of this sauce so I suggest dry.
• 1 teaspoon dry basil (or equivalent fresh). Same here – you don’t need fresh.
• 2 fresh garlic cloves diced
• 1 pound fresh button mushrooms cut
• 3 to 4 pounds of mild Italian sausage
• 9 – 6 oz cans of tomato paste (I typically use Hunts )

Important matters

I have already mentioned the importance of the sausage, but there are two other things that help to make this a superb sauce. The pinch of soda takes away the acidic flavor that can come from tomatoes. But be careful not to use too much. I made that mistake one time and it ruined the sauce – just one pinch. The other thing is to not take shortcuts on the cooking time. It is crucial to cook on medium heat for 4 hours. The bottom of the pan will collect some burned sauce – for God’s sake, don’t scrape this off the bottom. I also made that mistake one time and the sauce tasted burnt obviously. Stir about every 10 to 15 minutes and don’t worry about some sauce clinging to the bottom of the pan.

Preparation

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Place 3 cans of the whole plum tomatoes in a large stainless steel pot (and I mean large – this is a lot of sauce. My pot is about 8 inches deep and a foot in diameter). Crush the tomatoes. Fill each can with water and add that to the pot. Add the tomato paste along with one can of water per tomato paste can (I like to use hot water so I can get the last bit of paste left in the can to dissolve). Add all the spices and the mushrooms and cook on medium heat for 4 hours. Meanwhile, spread the sausage out in a baking dish and place in the oven to cook for 30 minutes or until it begins to brown. Once the sausage is finished, cut the links into about 1 inch long pieces and add all of them to the pot. They should cook at least 3 hours in the sauce.

Finishing up

Once the sauce has cooked for 4 hours, remove the sausage with a slotted spoon. You can store the sauce in the refrigerator until needed or bottle to preserve.

Enjoy!

Jack Botticelli

Cento Tomato Italian 35 Oz

The official seal of the Suolo e Salute s.r.l. on each can, guarantees Cento Organic Tomaotes are grown naturally and chemical free. Freshly packed

Cento Tomato Italian 35 Oz Photo

Cento Tomato Italian 35 Oz Photo

Cento Tomato Italian 35 Oz Image

Cento Tomato Italian 35 Oz Image

Most helpful customer reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful.
Scam Marzano tomatoes!
By smratguy
If you are just ordering canned tomatoes, then so be it. These, however, are depicted as “Product of San Marzano” tomatoes. What arrived were just canned Italian tomatoes with no indication that they are from San Marzano, because they aren’t. The labels are identical, except where the one in the illustration says “Product of San Marzano”, these just say “Product of Italy”.

For those who buy California “champagne”, Dominican “Cohibas” and salmon “caviar”, please enjoy these tomatoes, as you probably won’t notice the difference. They are not, however, San Marzanos, so if you think you’ve uncovered a great deal, you haven’t. All you’ve found is a pure and unadulterated example of “bait and switch”.

Also beware the blanket Amazon disclaimer: “Actual product packaging and materials may contain more and different information than what is shown on our website. We recommend that you do not rely solely on the information presented and that you always read labels, warnings, and directions before using or consuming a product.” Nice! Not sure how exactly one can rely on information other than what they provide or read the labels BEFORE one places one’s order.

Anyway, you’ve been warned. Caveat emptor.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful.
Good taste and value
By retired early
Yes, I said taste and value. These tomatoes are very tasty. They have large pieces of basil in them , and most important of all they are not watery like most canned tomatoes. There salt content is below most brands. All I can say is try them just for the great taste. Plus a 35 oz can goes a long way.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful.
Decent product, good price
By veronica s
I use a LOT of canned tomatoes. I prefer to start with whole canned tomatoes because you get the best parts of the tomato instead of the bits and smashed ones that go into crushed tomatoes or other varieties. I cook a lot, and turn these tomatoes into sauces, soups, stews, even quick salsas. They are one of the most versatile staples in my kitchen so I like to always have them on hand.

I can take or leave the bits of basil in this particular variety- you can definitely see the big pieces but I don’t taste basil really in the tomatoes or sauce surrounding them. This is fine with me because it makes them more versatile but if you’re really looking for a basil flavor in the tomatoes, these aren’t really it.

I also like having them delivered because large cans are HEAVY and if you live in a city like I do, you are generally carrying home whatever you buy. Instead, they show up on my doorstep and I have them when I need them.

See all 5 customer reviews…