Episode 15: What makes the best red sauce?

In the Test Kitchen

In this episode of In the Test Kitchen, hosts Lan Lam, Brian Roof, Nick Sharma, and Lary Hoik explore the diverse landscape of red sauces by tasting

Key takeaways

• Brian Roof's Ragu alla Bolognese features an unconventional addition of pureed chicken livers to enhance richness and flavor.
• The use of vodka in pasta alla vodka acts as a mediator between water and oil, helping to capture fat-soluble tomato aromatics.
• Spaghetti all'assassina is prepared using a risotto-like method with tomato broth to create a charred, crispy texture.
• Nick Sharma discusses the Fenton reaction, explaining how iron from chicken livers can act as a catalyst for flavorful aromas in meat sauces.
• Lidey Hoik notes that for pasta salads, cooking pasta slightly past al dente is preferable because chilling makes it too hard.

Main topics

• Red sauce varieties
• Culinary hot takes
• Pasta cooking techniques

Notable quotes

The vodka here... is like the Swiss army knife.

Conclusion

The episode provides a deep dive into how specific techniques and ingr

Transcript preview

Speaker 3 (0:00) If you spend any time in the kitchen, you know a good cutting board is one of those tools you'll reach for every single day. And when it comes to this necessity, our reviews team has named Teak House cutting boards their favorite. They're made from FSC-certified sustainable teak wood, which is knife-friendly, naturally moisture-resistant, and built to last for years. Whether you need an everyday board for weeknight cooking or one of their extra-large boards for entertaining, Teakhouse has a size that fits the job. Whether you need an everyday board for weeknight cooking or one of their extra large boards for entertaining, Teakhouse has a size that fits the job. They also have a new sheet-to-pan system that's pretty slick. It's a board that's been modified to let a USA Pan baking sheet slip out from underneath. It lets you slide ingredients from the board to a pan and then into the oven. The system makes cooking a little cleaner, easier, and more convenient. And for anyone who loves hosting, there's the Rover Cart. Think of it as a rolling kitchen island built around a Teak House large or extra large cutting board. It's great for charcuterie spreads, grilling, outdoor gatherings, or just, you know, rolling the food to your guests. Teak House is innovating based on how we cook and gather around food, and we're big fans of that approach. Visit teakhouse.com to learn more. Speaker 4 (1:23) So the first pasta with Speaker 3 (1:24) red sauce that I ever had was really simple. It's probably going to sound familiar. Ground meat into a skillet, cook it, season it up, open up a jar of red sauce, dump it in. You know, you cook it a little bit, add your pasta, and you're eating, right? It wasn't until I started cooking professionally that I really understood just how many ways Italians have found to combine tomatoes and pasta and to create something so tasty. So today we picked three ATK recipes, ragù alla bolognese, pasta alla vodka, and spaghetti alla sassina. We're going to try them all and try to decide what makes the best red sauce. Speaker 4 (2:01) Welcome to In the Test Kitchen, a culinary playground and Speaker 3 (2:05) proving ground where recipes are developed, tested, and tasted until they're as close to perfect as possible. And now, you're invited inside as we discuss and debate the most popular foods at ATK and beyond. I'm Lan Lam, recipe developer and host of Technically. Speaker 1 (2:21) I'm Brian Roof, Speaker 2 (2:22) food editor and host of On the Road. I'm Nick Sharma, editor-in-residence and the host of Flavor Forward. Speaker 4 (2:28) I'm Lydie Hoik. editor in residence and cookbook author. Speaker 2 (2:31) Grab Speaker 3 (2:32) your apron. You're in the test kitchen. Speaker 3 (2:38) Okay, Bri, you and I know that making ice cream and other frozen desserts from scratch can be so fun, but we also know that it can be a little bit intimidating. Yeah, Speaker 1 (2:48) and most of us aren't like our colleague Nick, who owns like, what, eight ice cream makers? Exactly. We can't all have an ice cream maker for every day of the week plus Speaker 3 (2:57) a backup. You know, just in case. Luckily, Black & Decker's Perfect Pint Ice Cream Maker lets you make all sorts of ice creams and frozen treats like sorbet, milkshakes, frozen yogurts. The best part is cleanup is easy because the cups, lids, and paddle, they're all top rack dishwasher safe. Speaker 1 (3:15) Very sweet. So what ice cream or frozen treat would you make with the Perfect Pint Ice Cream Maker? Speaker 3 (3:21) Well, I love a vanilla base because it goes so well with all sorts of inclusions. Right now, I'm feeling peanut butter cups and a caramel swirl. What Speaker 1 (3:30) would Speaker 3 (3:30) you make? Speaker 1 (3:30) I'm more of a sorbet guy myself, so I'd go with a mango and throw in some frozen fruit chunks to mix it up. But I also love our strawberry sorbet recipe. Speaker 3 (3:38) Well, the good news is you don't have to decide because the Perfect Pint Ice Cream Maker comes with two pint containers, so you can make two different things at once. Make your perfect frozen treat with Black & Decker's Perfect Pint Ice Cream Maker. It's available now on Amazon.com. Speaker 4 (3:54) I grew up with essentially the same thing, Lon. We called it spaghetti sauce. And I still make a version of it. I get a little fancier these days with the herbs, and I use different meats, but there's something that's so comforting and simple about a good red sauce. Speaker 1 (4:07) Yeah. So were those branded jarred sauces specifically for spaghetti, or was it like canned tomatoes that... Speaker 4 (4:13) Oh, marinara sauce. Marinara sauce. Oh, yeah. See, I grew up with Speaker 1 (4:17) canned tomato sauce that my mom would just... That's fancy. Yeah, we were very fancy. Yeah, ground beef in a skillet, onions, garlic, oregano, garlic powder, played a big role. And then she'd always drain it in the colander. I don't do. But you could tell. Speaker 4 (4:35) Draining the flavor. Draining the flavor away. Adding this flavor. Speaker 1 (4:38) And then, yeah, canned tomatoes go in there. I didn't realize that was the beginning of ragu ala bolognese. Is it? I think that's where the Americanized version comes from, a traditional ragu ala bolognese. I Speaker 3 (4:50) don't know where my mom learned how to make this, but my mom could never make the same dish twice. So every time she'd add a different, usually Asian seasoning, because that's what we had in the pantry, fish sauce would go in there, soy sauce. Oyster sauce, black vinegar. It would just be like a little bit different and I'd never, I mean, it was fine. Speaker 2 (5:11) I'm like your mom in how I approached it when I came here. I would add miso because I knew that had like some umami salty and then soy sauce. Yeah. Speaker 4 (5:18) All Speaker 2 (5:19) the time. I Speaker 4 (5:19) have some red sauce hot takes. I want to get your opinions. Okay. Okay. Can jarred sauce be as good as homemade? Speaker 1 (5:26) Yeah, it can be. Depends on who's Speaker 4 (5:27) home. Speaker 1 (5:27) That was really, really hesitating there. It Speaker 2 (5:30) depends on who's making it, right? Yeah, Speaker 1 (5:32) if I'm making it, it's going to be good. Speaker 4 (5:35) I'm Speaker 3 (5:36) joking, here's why. I mean, so I did a tasting of 10 jarred red sauces. Okay. Some of them. were pretty good. They've Speaker 1 (5:44) gotten better and they've gotten less sweet. Yeah. Yeah. Like Speaker 3 (5:47) that Speaker 1 (5:47) Rao's sauce is really good. Speaker 3 (5:48) Yeah, I think Speaker 4 (5:48) Rao's is really good. Yeah, Speaker 3 (5:50) it was super fun to taste them all. Some of them had basil, some of them seemed sweetened. Textures really varied. It was fun tasting. You Speaker 2 (5:57) know, I think one of the things that's happening with red sauces and the canned jarred ones, they're getting access to better tomatoes now. They're paying attention and also technology has improved. Speaker 3 (6:06) Yeah, yeah. Like certainly the processing to like maintain flavor is different. Like you're not... You know, people put more thought into it. Yeah. Speaker 4 (6:14) Next question. Is putting sugar in tomato sauce cheating? Speaker 2 (6:19) No. No. Yeah, I like seasoning with sugar. I think it's fine. I agree. It needs it sometimes. Yeah. Speaker 4 (6:24) Tomatoes Speaker 2 (6:25) can be really acidic, depending on how ripe they are. So sometimes it just bumps it up. I'm not looking for acid reflux. Speaker 4 (6:29) I think sugar is a secret ingredient in so many things. Yeah. It's just a little roundness, a little something, Speaker 3 (6:36) something. Speaker 4 (6:36) I agree with you. Speaker 3 (6:37) We don't actually talk about seasoning with sugar very much. We don't. Speaker 4 (6:39) But Speaker 3 (6:39) you see it in a lot of recipes, like just a little sugar. Speaker 4 (6:43) OK, ready for the next one? Uh-huh. I'm not necessarily agreeing or disagreeing with this, so don't come at me. Okay. Speaker 2 (6:48) Okay. Fresh. We're turning around. Speaker 4 (6:50) I'm scared. I'm scared. Is fresh basil overrated? Speaker 1 (6:56) Compared to dried basil? Yeah, compared to Speaker 3 (6:58) dried, yeah. Speaker 1 (6:59) A Speaker 3 (6:59) little bit, yeah, yes. Whoa. Wow. Speaker 1 (7:03) What? Speaker 3 (7:04) You don't eat basil in everything. That's not the question. That's not the question, but Speaker 1 (7:08) is it overrated? Meaning, like, would you prefer dried basil? We're talking about pasta here, so we're Speaker 3 (7:13) talking pasta and red sauce. Do you need basil in all of your red sauces? I say no. Speaker 1 (7:17) No, but that's not the question. It's like, is basil overrated? I'm saying basil is not overrated. If you need basil, if you want basil. I'm looking at it as... The alternative is dried basil. No, I think basil Speaker 3 (7:26) gets overused. It's like the default herb for red sauces. So I'm not saying that, you know, if you need basil, you can't use it. But I am saying people reach for basil without thinking about the other herbs they could be using. I Speaker 1 (7:40) think people use oregano a lot. Yeah, yeah. And I think that's more overused than basil because I think fresh basil is... It's just, it's an investment, you know? So I think people use dry basil more than they use fresh basil and dried oregano for sure more than they use basil in general. Speaker 2 (7:54) Okay, is fresh basil overrated? I'm going to say... Speaker 2 (7:58) Yeah. Speaker 3 (8:00) Okay, here's why. You got such a hard one. Well, Speaker 2 (8:03) here's why. You get a variety of different basils, fresh basils, and then you dry them, and then you don't have to use that much. Maybe use a little bit, and it doesn't work in every recipe. That's true, too. So I'm going to go with the middle ground and be Switzerland, yeah? Eat Speaker 3 (8:16) an Speaker 2 (8:16) Italian recipe and say... Maybe. No, you look Speaker 3 (8:21) at any food photography or food in videos, like people who are advertising stuff, if you're seeing pasta with a red sauce, you see cheese, and they always try to add a little bit of green. That little bit of green is almost always basil. I Speaker 1 (8:35) think you're missing the point, though. I don't disagree with you that that's what you see. Speaker 3 (8:40) I just Speaker 1 (8:40) feel like it's overused. Speaking of the basil that you hate so much, I have a basil-free recipe for you. All right, Brian, let's do it. Ragu a la Bolognese. This is the first recipe I developed