Which olive oil for tomato sauce for pasta

[konsuke]

I'm a total no-skills cook, so probably a dumb question:

Watched this video, where he says to use lots of olive oil:


Should I use extra virgin or normal olive oil? The normal one seems hard to come by/ in good quality these days, at least here, but since this will cook (bubbles) for 30 minutes, is that too much for extra virgin?

 

[HumbleHomeCook]

As a rule of thumb, use extra virgin when the taste will come through versus needing a fat for the cooking task. In this instance you want good flavored olive oil so yes, extra virgin.

You might benefit from this series:


They are like full blown classes so getting through all the episodes will take time and commitment. It's been quite a while since I looked at them and honestly I didn't deep dive into the whole series but I thought it was good information and have recommended it to others who said it was a real help.

 

[konsuke]

@HumbleHomeCook understood, many thanks!

 

[NickMinton]

Seconding the video already posted. I would also encourage you to keep a notebook / notes about what you want to accomplish with your cooking.

Try things, take notes, reflect on what went good or bad and figure out WHY a food or dish went well or terribly.

Once you figure that out, either fix it or continue doing it and reflect that you’ve learned. Keep doing this for 10-30+ years and you’ll end up being a decent cook / chef

 

[Heckel7302]

Fancy oil for drizzling on top, regular for everything else.

But for me the best tomato sauce is made with butter, not oil.

I’ve been making Marcella Hazan’s sauce for 20 years. It’s super easy and tremendously delicious.

https://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/tomato-sauce-onion-and-butter

 

[MarcelNL]

One piece of advice; hone in your cooking skills before buying top of the line ingredients.

I've eaten paste made with the best ingredients money can buy that sucked and pasta made with much more humble ingredients that was great...Perfect is the enemy of good ;-)

 

[stringer]

I'm a total no-skills cook, so probably a dumb question:

Watched this video, where he says to use lots of olive oil:


Should I use extra virgin or normal olive oil? The normal one seems hard to come by/ in good quality these days, at least here, but since this will cook (bubbles) for 30 minutes, is that too much for extra virgin?

It is a myth that extra virgin can't handle high heat, deep frying, etc. It has a lower scorch point than some other oils but it also has way more anti-oxidants. The anti-oxidants prevent the oil from breaking down under high heat. They also give the oil longer shelf life if you want to save and reuse it to deep fry something else later. Obviously, cost would be a reason not to use extra virgin olive oil all of the time. And sometimes you need something more neutral like canola or soy. Sometimes you want a particular flavor like peanut for Asian food. But in general, extra virgin works great for cooking most anything. But ESPECIALLY for pasta sauce.

 

[user 16756]

"a lot" in the context of a pasta sauce still isn't very much.

tbh while per unit extra virgin is more expensive, if you have to buy an extra bottle to avoid using whatever EVOO you normally use Im suspicious you would come out ahead in terms of money spent unless you plan to totally exhaust the regular OO, and do so within its ideal freshness.

tldr just use whatever you normally buy JMO.

 

[MarcelNL]

As a rule of thumb, use extra virgin when the taste will come through versus needing a fat for the cooking task. In this instance you want good flavored olive oil so yes, extra virgin.

You might benefit from this series:


They are like full blown classes so getting through all the episodes will take time and commitment. It's been quite a while since I looked at them and honestly I didn't deep dive into the whole series but I thought it was good information and have recommended it to others who said it was a real help.

I'd almost suggest picking up a copy of Jamie Olivers 'cook with Jamie'

 

[gentiscid]

Hard to beat $10 a bottle (1 litre), Fall 2023 harvest, California olives, low acidity…

 

[MarcelNL]

Hard to beat $10 a bottle (1 litre), Fall 2023 harvest, California olives, low acidity…

let's see what it'll cost by the time it gets to Austria, I guess some la Vialla EVO in Demeter organic quality is a better choice and not that more expensive for Califormian EVO without S/H

 

[lumo]

Patuto / Molise...light, herbaceous, delicate...white fleshed fish, light salads, light vegetables
Punta Crena / Liguria, taggiasca olives, grassy, herbaceous, light pepper finish, unctuous...fish, salads, vegetables...new to me but always loved their wines!
Partanna / Sicily, castelvetrano olives, fruity, light pepper and bitterness, not as rich as the Ligurian...dipping oil, zesty dressings, sauces, premium daily use
Kirkland / Italy, balanced flavors, well rounded, medium bodied...work horse cooking oil
Ideally I would also have a robust Tuscan oil for grilled steak, pork, grilled mushrooms, braising greens, rabe.

My two, go to simple tomato sauces.

AOP (aglio e olio con pomodoro)..12 slices garlic, 3 oz evoo, saute, chile flake, 7-10 oz milled tomato, or tomato passata depending on how thick it is, reduce, add one portion / 4-5 ounces spaghetti, chopped Italian parsley

Tomato Basil, 1 oz evoo, 5-6 basil leaves, saute, 7-10 oz milled tomato, or tomato passata depending on how thick it is, reduce, add one portion / 4-5 ounces spaghetti ( I prefer penne with this one), 5-6 more basil leaves, toss in 2 tablespoons of butter and 2 tablespoons grated parm

 

[rickbern]

Fancy oil for drizzling on top, regular for everything else.

But for me the best tomato sauce is made with butter, not oil.

I’ve been making Marcella Hazan’s sauce for 20 years. It’s super easy and tremendously delicious.

https://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/tomato-sauce-onion-and-butter

I think that one is great for fresh pasta, I prefer olive oil based sauces on dried pasta. YMMV.

 

[Jovidah]

I'm a total no-skills cook, so probably a dumb question:

Watched this video, where he says to use lots of olive oil:


Should I use extra virgin or normal olive oil? The normal one seems hard to come by/ in good quality these days, at least here, but since this will cook (bubbles) for 30 minutes, is that too much for extra virgin?

I'm normally quite generous in my falt consumption, but this isn't a recipe for tomato sauce. It's more a recipe for onion confit with hints of tomato.
This is also one of the problems when you're new to cooking; for every good cooking video there's a bad one.

As stringer said, heating EVOO isn't a big deal, although I'd be a bit hesitant to really use it for high heat (searing your steaks - smoke point is on the low side) or deep frying; both because I once heard a chemist recommend against it and frankly because it's really expensive. Right now it's especially bad since last year's olive harvest was mediocre, and that reflects in the price.

That being said; I basically use good quality EVOO for everything where I use olive oil, whether it's frying sofrito, in sauces, or on stuff that goes into the oven like potatoes. Experiment around and find something that actually tastes well; the taste does come through.

I never really saw the point in using filtered crap quality olive oil. By that point anything healthy is filtered out, there's 0 taste and you might just as well use any other neutral / high temp oil.

 

[Jovidah]

I'd almost suggest picking up a copy of Jamie Olivers 'cook with Jamie'

You mean Jamie Oliveoil?

For starter courses I actually think Gordon Ramsay's Ultimate Cookery Course is actually quite good. It's also one of those rare few shows where he isn't playing a raging madman.

FWIW, this is my go-to oil, mostly because it's consistently good-enough and always decently affordable. Although prices went up a lot recently; used to be that I got it on sale for like 7-8 euros, this time the sale price was 13 euros a liter. Yikes!

 

[HumbleHomeCook]

I'm normally quite generous in my falt consumption, but this isn't a recipe for tomato sauce. It's more a recipe for onion confit with hints of tomato.
This is also one of the problems when you're new to cooking; for every good cooking video there's a bad one.

As stringer said, heating EVOO isn't a big deal, although I'd be a bit hesitant to really use it for high heat (searing your steaks - smoke point is on the low side) or deep frying; both because I once heard a chemist recommend against it and frankly because it's really expensive. Right now it's especially bad since last year's olive harvest was mediocre, and that reflects in the price.

That being said; I basically use good quality EVOO for everything where I use olive oil, whether it's frying sofrito, in sauces, or on stuff that goes into the oven like potatoes. Experiment around and find something that actually tastes well; the taste does come through.

I never really saw the point in using filtered crap quality olive oil. By that point anything healthy is filtered out, there's 0 taste and you might just as well use any other neutral / high temp oil.

Yeah, I've played around with different grades of olive oil and always just come back to having a good EVOO for most everything. I keep a squeeze bottle of it next to the stove and it serves as low temp cooking oil to salad dressing.

 

[Jovidah]

Part of it is also that good quality EVOO isn't really outrageously expensive. I don't really see the point in fussing with different grades of oil or having inferior oil when the good stuff is fairly affordable.
As tcmx3 said you're also not necessarily saving all that much by complicating your logistics in keeping different grades of olive oil in your supply chain. The lower grades aren't even that much cheaper anyway.

 

[rickbern]

You mean Jamie Oliveoil?

For starter courses I actually think Gordon Ramsay's Ultimate Cookery Course is actually quite good. It's also one of those rare few shows where he isn't playing a raging madman.

FWIW, this is my go-to oil, mostly because it's consistently good-enough and always decently affordable. Although prices went up a lot recently; used to be that I got it on sale for like 7-8 euros, this time the sale price was 13 euros a liter. Yikes!
View attachment 289156

I just was looking at this in the local market today, iirc they were charging $28 for it.

Edit. Yup

 

[Jovidah]

I just was looking at this in the local market today, iirc they were charging $28 for it.

Edit. Yup


View attachment 289166

Wow. That's ridiculous. I already felt ripped off that I had to pay 13 euros a liter for it now instead of the usual 7-8. I've always used it as a cheap general purpose olive oil...

 

[MarcelNL]

it's not that they charge that amount, they just hope to get that much...HAGGLE ! ;-)


My fave is also way more expensive at 15 euro's for 750ml (20euro/l), but 28 is serious money.

 

[rickbern]

Somehow or another we ended up with a giant tariff on eu olive oil

https://www.aboutoliveoil.org/olive-oil-tariffs-mean-higher-prices-for-u.s.-consumers

 

[MarcelNL]

makes no sense to me, yet what do I know about trade wars ongoing behind the scenes...

 

[stringer]

makes no sense to me, yet what do I know about trade wars ongoing behind the scenes...

California olive growers claim that European countries subsidize their industry in a way that creates an unfair market for domestic (USA) producers. That led to US enacting tariffs under Trump. There has been a back and forth in American and international courts and the WTO as regards to the subsidy/tariff debate and who is right under current trade agreements. As of now the tariffs still stand. The legal battle is ongoing.

 

[rickbern]

Meanwhile, we still never see domestic olive oil. It has been a boon to the Lebanese producers though, they’ve captured my business. I pay about 11 bucks a liter for this stuff

 

[MarcelNL]

unfiltered is a good start! Now I wonder what your domestic EVO would cost....

 

[robzilla]

You mean Jamie Oliveoil?

For starter courses I actually think Gordon Ramsay's Ultimate Cookery Course is actually quite good. It's also one of those rare few shows where he isn't playing a raging madman.

FWIW, this is my go-to oil, mostly because it's consistently good-enough and always decently affordable. Although prices went up a lot recently; used to be that I got it on sale for like 7-8 euros, this time the sale price was 13 euros a liter. Yikes!
View attachment 289156

Whole Foods has the bottled organic version at $17.49 per .750. Very good squeezins.