Marinara Topping: Garlic, Tomatoes, and Olive Oil
Question: What’s wrong with this picture? Answer: Too much sauce.
Question: What’s right with this picture? Answer: Lots and lots of sauce.
The reason there is so much sauce is the reason why it’s OK to be there. My grandson was having a cooking lesson while we made the pizza. He was extraordinarily proud of the sauce we made. “From real tomatoes, MeeMaw!” When he began spreading it on the dough, I didn’t have the heart to stop him until he had used every drop of his creation.
I peeled the tomatoes and my grandson stripped them of their seeds and excess liquid. He was very careful to get every last seed.
After cooking the tomatoes down with olive oil, we spread them over the top of our prepared pizza dough. (See Beth’s post from Sunday to discover why I didn’t make my own dough from scratch.) Then we added salt, sliced garlic, and a drizzle of olive oil before sliding the pizza into the oven to bake.
In one of Marcella’s cookbooks – Marcella’s Italian Kitchen – the dedication reads. “For my star pupil. His enthusiasm at the table has fed mine in the kitchen; in the kitchen beside me, as my official taster, his judgement has never failed me…”
I’ll never write a cookbook, but if one of my grandchildren decides to grow up and become a chef, I wouldn’t be opposed.
Great post Deborah. Your grandson is a lucky boy!
Deborah responds: Thanks, Susie!
It looks irresistible, Deborah. In your trips to Italy, did you ever come across a tomato sauce called marinara? I haven’t.
Deborah responds: Interesting question, Marcella. Of course, I can’t remember every menu I’ve read. But, I probably do have a few more Italian cookbooks that the average American. One of them is the english version of
Il Ccucchiaio d’argento (The Silver Spoon). If I’m going to find it, I’ll find it there, right? Guess what? Not there.
So the question now is…. Why did you give the recipe that name in Essentials?
I agree with Susie, your grandson is one lucky kid!! Another scrumptuous looking recipe to put into my tummy!!!
Deborah responds:
Mindy, I think you and Susie have been our most loyal readers. We SO appreciate both of you!
My question, which was prompted by this recipe, was about the ubiquitously named marinara pasta sauce, common usage in the US, unknown in Italy. The term marinara is part of the Italian gastronomic lexicon, however, and its use is more adjectival than as a noun. My headnote gives the etymology, and in the context of a pizza topping, the use is idiomatic. I brought this up only because i am intrigued by the currency that certain Italian terms, not to mention certain Italian dishes, have in this country but are unknown in Italy.
It is curious too that you should turn to the Silver Spoon for reference. I have never looked inside the English version, but the Italian one was never considered a solid book of regional Italian cooking. It is a heterogeneous assortment of recipes of no territorial authenticity for middle-class
housewives whose mothers hadn’t shown them how to
cook.
Deborah responds: So interesting, your description of Silver Spoon. When it came out a few years ago and customers asked me about it, I told them it was the Italian equivalent of America’s Better Homes and Gardens cookbook. From the 50s through the 90s every new bride got one as a wedding present.