Tuttorosso tomatoes

[grathan]

These are kinda bland and watery. The usual spices didnt bring this sauce to life. Gonna use up the can today (whole peeled with most of the water gone).

Anyone have any thoughts on spicing up some bland watery tomatoes?

I was thinking probably not worth wasting paste on. Perhaps some grated dry parmesean, tons of garlic powder, some sherry and a little oil?

[JHutchins]

Which product are you talking about? Tonight I am going to try the Tuttorosso Crushed Tomatoes in Thick Puree with Basil. Doesn't appear to be very watery.

[dmcavanagh]

@JHutchins, just my 2 cents, and I have taste tested just about every brand of crushed tomatoes available to me, but Tuttorusso are perhaps the, or certainly one of the worst you will find. The contents will generally be very dark in color, fairly thick and the added basil overwhems the already lousy tomato taste. If you feel differently, please let me know, crops change every year, and so do tomatoes, but these are consistently BAD!

[JHutchins]

I would not say they are bad. I'm talking about the Tuttorosso Crushed Tomatoes in Thick Puree with Basil, not the Tuttorosso New World Style Crushed Tomatoes with Basil.

I think they have pretty good tomato flavor, kind of sweet, but the basil flavor is strong. It's not as noticeable on a finished pizza, especially if using pepperoni. Cook's Illustrated rated them the highest crushed tomatoes (May/June 2007), so I thought they were worth a try.

I was using the Classico Peeled Ground Tomatoes which I like a lot but I can no longer find them locally. I tried the Classico Crushed Tomatoes and didn't like those as much. They are noticeable bitter, maybe because they include the skins. Occasionally you can notice the pieces of skin which is annoying.

So I'm still trying to find good crushed tomatoes that I can buy locally. I think next time I will try the Muir Glen Organic Crushed Tomatoes with Basil, Cook's Illustrated's number two crushed tomato.

[Chaze215]

Just my 2 cents, my favorite is Sclafani Crushed Tomatoes. Not sure you can get them in your area or not.

[grathan]

It was one of the blue cans, peeled. It was a mistake using the can. I should have thrown it away, the pizza came out awful. The spices I added seem to stand out as there was no tomato flavor to blend them in. The thick puree probably helped in your case as mine were just tomatoes.

You near Albany,Saratoga area JHutchins?

[dmcavanagh]

I have also noticed that the Classico ground tomatoes have disappeared from the shelves, perhaps they are no longer offering them. I agree with Chaze, Sclafani's crushed tomatoes are top notch. Another to look for is LaFede, very,very close to Sclafani, both are Jersey grown tomatoes.

[dmcavanagh]

I wasn't aware that Tuttorosso marketed two different cans of crushed tomatoes, the only ones available in my area, and the ones I mentioned above, are the ones in the 28 oz. green can, "New World Style", whatever the hell THAT'S supposed to mean!

[JHutchins]

I've heard that the New World Style (in the green can) aren't as good as the blue canned tomatoes in puree. I can get both here, but don't plan on trying the green can.

grathan, I'm in the Finger Lakes.

[Zing]

Until the bankruptcy of Tri Valley Growers in 2000, Tuttorosso were canned at Cedarville, NJ. When Red Gold shifted production to Indiana, I noticed that quality declined. So did the price, however. NJ supermarkets offer killer deals on Tuttorosso products.

[Gregooch]

Pastene Kitchen Ready tomatoes in hte yellow cans are one of my favorites. Actually I am not crazy about crushed to begin with but as far as crushed tomatoes go they are very good. their San Marzano tomatoes are very good too. I believe the Kitchen Ready are from California but you can check their website for more info.

[dmcavanagh]

@Zing, thanks for the input, I wasn't aware that Red Gold was once in Jersey, that explains why some people still are Red Pack and Tuttorusso fans. I have two brands of tomatoes which I use often, both are grown and packed in Jersey. Once upon a time Red Pack was a very popular brand and very good, as were Tuttorusso. The move to Indiana could well explain their demise.

[Zing]

AFAIK, Red Gold was never in NJ. Tri Valley Growers had packing operations in California and New Jersey. They also canned Red Pack and Sacramento. Red Gold bought rights to the brands and remaining NJ inventory in 2001 as part of the bankruptcy proceedings.