Question about Hazan's "Tomato Sauce with Olive Oil and Chopped Vegetables" recipe

[newchef]

Hi!

 

I just made this recipe from Marcella Hazan's "Essentials of Italian Cooking" (pg. 153) and it was amazing.  However, I realized something odd: when the sauce was done, there were still largely chopped bits of celery and carrot in the sauce.  I didn't really know if those should stay IN the sauce (although they were tender, it would be odd to have them in there, wouldn't it?) or if I should strain them out.  I tried straining them out and it didn't turn out so well   What I ended up with was a decent amount of sauce and a bunch of saucy pieces of veggies left over (see pic), no doubt with wasted sauce still clinging to the veggies.

 

Do people eat this kind of sauce with finely diced/minced veggies still in it?  Do they just put a few large pieces of carrots and celery in the sauce and then remove after cooking?  And if they do the latter, how would I know how much a piece of carrot or celery equals "2/3 cup chopped" of each?  Should I just chop the celery/carrots into the same size as I did this time, put them in the 2/3 measuring cup, weigh the 2/3 cup, and then use a piece of carrot and celery that weighs the same as the chopped 2/3 cup and then dump the pieces in the sauce and then remove them at the end?  See recipe ingredients below.

 

Thanks!

 

-2 pounds fresh tomatoes

-2/3 cup chopped carrot

-2/3 cup chopped celery

-2/3 cup chopped onion

-salt

-1/3 cup EVOO

 

[robirdstx]

I have not made this sauce, but based on the title of the recipe, I would leave the Vegetables in.

[pastrygirl]

It's not exactly tomato sauce with vegetables if you strain them out ...

[Duvel]

I remember her tomato sauce with onion and butter, in which she specifically mentions removing the onion (which is added in quarters, iirc). So, I'd leave the veggies in here; if you object to their texture you might just chop them to a finer dice.

Do the chopped tomatoes fully melt during the cooking time ? Or could is be meant to resemble a kind of veggie ragout rather than a smooth sauce with veggie chunks ?

[Shalmanese]

You're chopping your vegetables too coarsely. This is about the texture you should be aiming for.

[Lisa Shock]

You can also hit it with a stick blender to puree it. But, overall, I vote for small dice -more surface area for browning.