Food - Drink
The Canned Ingredient That Will Change Your Marinara Sauce Forever
By ERIN SHAW
You may think tomato sauce and marinara sauce are the same thing, but while tomato sauce has a thick consistency, rich flavor, and a long cooking time, marinara sauce is a quick, light sauce made with just tomatoes, olive oil, and seasonings. Marinara sauce has a wonderful freshness, but it can lack the complexity of a tomato sauce.
Since marinara's texture is relatively thin, you can fancy it up a bit by adding tomato filets, which are the inner walls of a tomato without the skin, seeds, or pulp, cut into long strips. These filets are canned in a full-bodied and flavorful tomato puree, which is a great base for your marinara sauce, while the filets themselves add texture.
Canned tomato filets also have a more reliable size and texture than crushed tomatoes, meaning you'll always know what you're getting when you open a can. If you've ever wished your marinara had some qualities of a long-cooked sauce, leave the canned whole and crushed tomatoes on the shelf and try tomato filets.