Food - Drink
The Unexpected Tool Scott Conant Uses For Tomato Sauce
By KALEA MARTIN
Even simple recipes can call for a special tool — for instance, a whisk for whipped cream — and Scott Conant applies the same principle to his tomato sauce. The celebrity chef and restaurateur shared with Serious Eats that when it comes to making tomato sauce from scratch, a potato masher is a must.
After drizzling extra virgin olive oil into a pot and letting it heat up but not to the point that it’s smoking, Conant adds fresh tomatoes, already seeded, halved, and split; sprinkles on some salt; and goes right in with the potato masher. As the tomatoes heat up and cook, the mashing action will allow them to break down and eventually form a smooth sauce.
Most people already have a potato masher, but home cooks who want results that compare to Conant's will need the right potato masher. Some have perforations, and others are grid-shaped, but both Serious Eats and Bon Appétit recommend a zigzag-shaped wire masher, which will come in handy for both mashed potatoes and tomato sauce.