I’m glad I planted San Marzano tomato seedlings this past spring. According to cookbooks, Food Network chefs, and wikipedia, they are some of the finest sauce-making tomatoes in the world. Whenever the canned San Marzano are on sale, I load up.
This Italian tomato varietal does produce an excellent cooking tomato. But the freshly harvested San Marzano’s, my oh my, they are sweet indeed.
I’ve found there’s no need to fool with removing the seeds of these tomatoes, they aren’t the least bit bitter. But if you’re using a different type of tomato for the recipe, and the seeds taste bitter, run your finger along the inside of the tomato and scoop them out.
I don’t spend the time peeling the tomatoes, but you could. You can also make a double or triple batch. The sauce remains delicious, refrigerated, up to a week. I still prefer other tomato varietals for eating raw, out of hand. The San Marzano’s, for me, excel when succumbed to the heat of the flame.
I use a lesser grade of olive oil when making the sauce (heat obliterates the flavor and finesse of the finest extra virgin oils) and pull out my superstar extra virgin oils to toss with the cooked pasta before coating with the sauce.
